By Seleoe Nonyane
Circumstances around the death of Pule Bula remain a mystery after he was reported dead on July 20 2022 by the Lesotho Mounted Police (LMPS).
The family of the deceased say it is still not clear what really happened to their son.
Bula was a first year student at Lerotholi Polytechnic pursuing a diploma in Business Management. His home was at Thaba Chitja in Morija, but he stayed at Ha Pita during school days.
Pule died at Ha Thetsane police station where he had sought overnight accommodation on the evening of July 19 2022.
Pule’s uncle Busang Bula says he received a call from the police on July 20 requesting, him go report to the station. However, he could not make it but instead sent his wife who later called him to tell him about the death of his nephew.
Busang said he has since received different versions of what really happened to his nephew and, as a result, he suspects the police might be hiding something.
“My wife said she was informed that Pule was taken to the police station by security officers who saw him loitering around. When they approached him he told them he had nowhere to go as he was still looking for a job. He also told them that he was from the river.
“So, the security officers decided to take him to the nearest police station. Upon arrival we were told that Pule’s story did not make sense.
“However, he was offered to sleep in the waiting room and was found dead in the morning,” he said.
Busang said that he suspects that his nephew was under the influence of alcohol or drugs which may have been responsible for his incoherence. However, Busang had never witnessed Pule using drugs or alcohol.
A week later, I was told a different version of the events of the day.
“Another police officer told me that my nephew had been eating an unidentified substance from a plastic bag he was carrying in his hand.
“A remnant of that substance was also found in his hat and was taken for testing to determine what it was. We had suspected that the substance was poisonous but when the results came out it was unknown.
“I asked the doctor myself if he thought that was poison but he said he could have detected it in his liver. Therefore, the cause of my nephew’s death remains unknown. The doctor also said he did not die of cold,” he added.
