One more person died a month after rogue prison officers brutally assaulted inmates at the Maseru Central Correctional facility last December, thepost heard this week. It is however not clear what could have triggered Motlalentoa Motelo’s death.
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Justice Realeboha Mathaba, who is leading a commission of inquiry into the prison escape, told prison authorities that Motelo’s cellmates said he had complained of the assault by warders before he died.
However, the facility’s deputy commanding officer, Senior Superintendent Leluma Mahlelebe, said it was well-known that Motelo “was suffering from sugar diabetes”.
“Even his cell mates knew about the problem,” S/Supt Mahlelebe said.
Mahlelebe said Motelo’s health had deteriorated significantly during his last days.
“He even lost weight calling for our attention to bring (a doctor) to assess him,” he said.
He said during the assessment Motelo’s “sugar diabetes was found to be higher than it had to be and he was sent to the doctors”.
Mahlelebe said he received a report showing that Motelo vomited before he died and a doctor had been called to help.
Justice Mathaba asked him if Motelo’s health deteriorated after the December assault, to which he responded that “I do not even know whether he was part of the assaulted or not”.
Justice Mathaba said he heard that Motelo’s cell mates claimed that he was complaining that the warders had assaulted him and killed him.
S/Supt Mahlelebe said he did not have any information about Motelo’s assault.
He said the rehabilitation principal officer, Fobo, told him that Motelo was dealing with depression.
“Maybe it was caused by the fact that the people who used to visit him in prison had stopped coming,” S/Supt Mahlelebe said.
S/Supt Mahlelebe said they never sought a post-mortem report “because his family was not suspicious of anything and did not require it”.
Justice Mathaba insisted that there is information that Motelo died because he was assaulted.
“Do you not feel obliged to seek a post-mortem report?” he asked him.
S/Supt Mahlelebe said a post-mortem was not needed in the case of Motelo.
Nkheli Liphoto
