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Mohalenyane Phakela
THE High Court has granted bail to two sisters, Nthei and ’Maphoka Rasekoai, who stand accused of murdering their mother in July 2022 to cash in on her million maloti life cover.
The two appeared before Justice Tšeliso Mokoko this week to be granted M500 bail each.
They were also ordered not to interfere with Crown witnesses, not hamper police investigations, attend all remands and stand trial to finality.
Nthei and ’Maphoka, aged 32 and 25 respectively, are accused of fatally assaulting their mother, Martha Rasekoai, on the head using a spade. At the time of her untimely death, Ms Rasekoai was working at the Ministry of Development Planning.
Ms Rasekoai’s body was recovered two days after her death near a rivulet in Ha Tsolo, Thetsane. It had allegedly been dumped there by the two sisters.
According to police investigations, Nthei and ’Maphoka reported their mother missing at Thetsane Police Station on 26 July 2022 while still keeping her corpse in their Masowe 4 house to later dispose of it.
“Investigations revealed that ….on 26 July 2022, they (Nthei and ’Maphoka) waited for the night to fall for them to dispose of their mother’s corpse where it was retrieved by the police (sic) ,” Sergeant Tumonyane Maraisane from the Thetsane Police Station stated in an affidavit.
The two Rasekoai daughters first appeared in court on 11 January 2023 and were read the charge sheet by Senior Resident Magistrate Thamae Thamae . They were then remanded in custody.
They reappeared before Magistrate Motlatsi Kolisang on 24 January 2023 who remanded their case to 9 February 2023. They remained in prison until this Tuesday when they applied for bail. They are still expected to appear before the Maseru Magistrates’ Court on the same 9 February 2023 date for their routine remand while they await their case to be moved to the High Court for trial.
Only the High Court has the jurisdiction to try murder cases.
