Maseru, May.13—-The High Court through Justice ‘Mabats’oeneng Hlaele has on Wednesday sentenced Tsépo Tabola to six years imprisonment and Motsie Mochesane to 25 years in jail for the murder of Molojoa Mabokoane which occurred at Roma on February 24 2020.
The accused had pleaded guilty to the charge. Evidence presented before the court revealed that on the fateful day, the accused, who were wearing balaclavas and posing as jobseekers, arrived at the fields where the deceased and other people were removing weeds. It stated that they were identified as Tabola uncovered his face while Mochesane was known to some of the witlessness. It added that Mochesane accused the deceased of shooting him during an altercation which had occurred during a stick-battle at an initiation event.
The evidence further revealed that the accused left with the deceased saying they wanted to talk to him but later returned without him. It indicated that the deceased was later found injured in the Ramashamole Valley at Ha Matobo and unable to talk, adding that he was later taken by the police and was confirmed dead upon arrival at hospital.
It showed that the accused surrendered themselves to the Roma Police on the following day together with murder weapons which are a knife and an axe. A post-mortem presented to the court as part of evidence indicated that the deceased died due to skull fracture and severe brain injury.
In her remarks during sentencing, Justice Hlaele stated that the sentence imposed on Tabola is due to his active participation in the commission of the crime while the one imposed on Mochesane is because he is the main perpetrator.
“Lesotho is riddled with gruesome murders committed in broad daylight by individuals who carry on revenge killings, instead of seeking state intervention”, she said.
She stated that no amount of self-help can be acceptable for the courts or the society. She added that bravery and manhood should never translate to repulsive crimes. She further added that the accused desecrated the sacrosanct teachings of initiation schools (Lebollo). She pointed out that the courts remain the society’s hope to uphold the constitutional mandate of a crime free society.
In its judgment delivered last week, the Court remarked that the totality of the evidence corroborates each other adding that the accused were positively identified. It pointed out that both accused were at the scene and were aware of the assault adding that they both shared a common purpose.
The Court stated that it was not convinced that Mochesane was the principal perpetrator adding that the time they spend at the scene and the types of injuries on the deceased makes one not believe that only one person killed the deceased and that Tabola was just a bystander who did not participate in the commission of the offence. It pointed out that what could be said is that his participation was minimal because he did not have a motive as opposed to his co-accused.
It thus concluded that prosecution has established its case against the accused, beyond reasonable doubt and accordingly found both guilty as charged.
Ends/SM/BM
