Kabelo Masoabi
A Mokhotlong widow, Makeleli Kente, has instituted a M15 million lawsuit against the Police Commissioner, Advocate Borotho Matsoso, claiming damages arising from the death of her husband, Tlenyane Alotsi.
Ms Kente argues that her husband died as a result of the negligence of officers from the Lesotho Mounted Police Service (LMPS), who allegedly failed to take him to hospital despite his urgent need for medical attention.
In her application filed before the High Court this week, Ms Kente alleges that her husband died after being shot by unknown assailants in February 2025, before he was arrested and detained by officers from Tlokoeng Police Station the following month after he was discharged from the hospital.
Adv Matsoso, the Tlokoeng Police Station Commander, the District Police Officer (DISPOL), and the Attorney General are cited as the first to fourth respondents, respectively.
According to court papers, Mr Alotsi was shot near the gate of his home at Mapholaneng in the Mokhotlong district on 3 February 2025. He was initially taken to Mokhotlong Hospital before being transferred to Queen ’Mamohato Memorial Hospital (QMMH) in Maseru, where he underwent surgery.
The operation was reportedly successful, and he was discharged on 7 March 2025.
However, Ms Kente claims that immediately after his discharge, LMPS officers arrested Mr Alotsi and detained him at the Central Charge Office in Maseru in connection with an alleged armed robbery that had occurred at Mapholaneng.
Family members allegedly pleaded with the police to release him into their care, citing doctors’ instructions that his surgical wound required daily cleaning and dressing. The request was rejected.
The application states that Mr Alotsi remained in police custody without receiving proper wound care, in direct disregard of medical instructions.
On 9 March 2025, he was transferred to Tlokoeng Police Station in Mokhotlong, where he was again detained. Despite repeated requests by family members for him to be taken to a nearby clinic as his wound worsened and became septic, police allegedly failed to act.
It was only on 12 March 2025 that Mr Alotsi was taken to Mapholaneng Clinic, where a nurse reportedly advised that he be urgently transferred to hospital due to the severity of his condition.
Police allegedly ignored this advice and instead took him to the Mokhotlong Magistrate’s Court on 13 March 2025. He was not remanded, with the court directing police to take him to hospital first as he was seriously ill.
Mr Alotsi was later admitted to hospital, where a doctor recommended further surgery after finding that his wound was septic and had completely reopened.
He was discharged on 25 March 2025 and returned home, where he was nursed by his family. He died on 5 April 2025.
She alleges that the respondents failed to reasonably foresee that Mr Alotsi required proper medical care following his discharge from hospital and that their negligence directly caused his death.
The application further claims that police unlawfully arrested and detained him without laying charges, failed to release him despite him posing no flight risk, and maliciously kept him in custody under the guise of ongoing investigations.
Ms Kente argues that the respondents are vicariously liable for her husband’s death, as there is a clear causal link between the actions of the police and the fatal outcome.
She is therefore seeking M7 million for damages arising from her husband’s death, M2.5 million for loss of earnings and support, M2.5 million for contumelia which she claims she suffered as a result of the death of her husband, and M3 million for unlawful arrest and detention, all adding up to a total of M15 million, as well as costs of suit.
The matter is yet to be heard by the High Court.
