Africa-Press – Lesotho. KHAUTA Khanooetso, 28, is claiming over M5 million from Lehlohonolo Phali who allegedly assaulted him, causing him permanent blindness. Khanooetso approached the Northern Region High Court in Tšifa-li-Mali asking for an order forcing Phali to pay him because he has caused him permanent disability.
He said in April 2020, Phali attacked him with a walking stick when he was at the Khotsi’s main bus stop. He was in the company of a friend, Morare Nku.
“He insulted us by our mothers’ private parts for no reasonable or probable cause,” Khanooetso said. When he asked him why he was assaulting him, Phali became violent and tried to hit him with a walking stick which he managed to grab.
Seeing that he was no longer in control of the stick, he said, Phali tried hitting him with fists but he also blocked. He said a passer-by called Hepi separated them and after that “I decided to leave the place”.
“As I was leaving, Phali came from behind and hit me hard with the stick on top of my right eye,” he said. He said he lost his balance and fell to the ground.
“Phali then took the chance and sat on me and assaulted me with the stick on the ocular regions of both of my eyes such that the lacerations below my eyebrows (tore) my eyelid,” he said.
Khanooetso said as a direct consequence of Phali’s wrongful and unlawful conduct, his visual acuity has since been gradually decreasing, probably due to bilateral glaucoma, blunt trauma and uveitis.
Ultimately, he said, his left eye became permanently blind without light perception while his right eye can only detect hand movement. “In short, I have become completely blind,” he said.
The young widower from Likhetlane, in Leribe, is also asking the court to award him damages at the interest of 18.5 percent from the date of judgement to payment.
He told the court in his papers that his wife died a few months after he lost his vision, leaving him with their son who was only six years old at the time, three years ago.
He said because of his disability he is unable to take care of himself and his nine-year-old son. “I am raising my nine-year-old son on my own,” he said.
He said he has lost his job where he was earning M2 500 per month due to his illness. “I am now disabled without a job, I can’t even walk on my own,” he said.
He said as a sole parent and a guardian of his minor child, he has legal duty to support and maintain his son in the sum of M2 500 per month. “As a direct consequence of what Phali did to me, I am no longer able to work for myself and I have lost my earning capacity,” he said.
He said before he was badly assaulted, he was working at Matšaba’s Milling Company in Ha-’Masana in Maseru earning a monthly salary of M2 500 per month. He explained he was permanently employed but had to resign as he was unable to continue with the work.
He explained he has since suffered irreparable harm as he cannot even walk on his own, he has to get into expenses of hiring an assistant whenever he has to go somewhere. He said he has suffered a lot as he had to pay for all his medical expenses in the last three years.
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