Lekhetho Ntsukunyane

The trial of Koalabata double ritual murder suspects, Lehlohonolo Scott and his mother, ‘Malehlohonolo, resumes in the High Court tomorrow.

Justice Teboho Moiloa on 23 November 2015 announced the case would proceed before the High Court from 11 to 15 April and 18 to 27 April 2016.

Mother and son were arrested on 12 July 2012 for allegedly killing their Koalabata neighbours, Moholobela Seetsa (13) and Kamohelo Mohata (22) in January and June 2012, respectively. The deceased’s mutilated bodies led to suggestions they had been killed for ritual purposes.

However, Scott escaped from Maseru Central Prison on 14 October 2012 and was on the run until South African police arrested him in Durban as he emerged from a church service on 6 April 2014.

After his arrest, Scott appeared before the Verulam Magistrate’s Court and Durban North Magistrate’s Court, where he argued his name was Lehlohonolo Mokhele and also that he was a South African, as he fought extradition to Lesotho.

However, he lost the extradition battle and on 21 October 2015, Scott was brought to Lesotho and appeared before the High Court the same day where Justice Moiloa remanded him in custody until 23 November 2015. His mother had been released on M500 bail in August 2015.

On 4 November 2015, Scott also appeared before the Maseru Magistrate’s Court and charged with escaping from lawful custody.

His case was, however, postponed to 18 November 2015 and during his court appearance, warned some police officers he accused of “harassing” him in prison.

Scott told Magistrate ‘Matankiso Nthunya he would not tolerate his unrelenting interrogation by detectives and threatened to “do something shocking” if the investigators did not stop visiting him for interviews in Maseru Central Prison.

“If the police continue to ill-treat me, I will do something that will shock people,” Scott told Chief Magistrate Nthunya.

“While I was in prison in South Africa, detectives from Lesotho visited me to ask about my escape. After the visit, I went through extradition and the police officers were still there, asking me the same questions.

“I am tired of this harassment, and I am ready to face my charges and give evidence in court.

“I was surprised to see the detectives when I was taken into custody back here. They tried to interview me again but I dismissed them.

“It is true I told them that I wanted to see my lawyer first before I could talk to them.

“Detective (name withheld) then said I should not disappoint them after meeting with my lawyer and Officer (name withheld) said they would come back again for further investigations.

“They told me they had names they wanted me to confirm; names of politicians they wanted me to accuse of helping me escape. But when they came back again, I told them I didn’t know anything about the  people they were telling me about. I also told them I never said I would think about their proposal to confirm the names, but only that I needed to consult my lawyer.

“I simply told them I was not interested. And I made it clear to them that I was not going to say anything about my escape.

“But after I told them about my decision, they started ill-treating me. At one point, they told me to take off my clothes which I did, and I didn’t know what they were looking for.”

Meanwhile, when Scott was extradited to Lesotho on 21 October 2015, it was amid tight security and jostling by members of the public who wanted a close look at the 30-year-old Koalabata resident.