Africa-Press – Lesotho. A FIRST year student at Leloaleng Technical Institute in Quthing was brutally killed by schoolmates on Monday last week. Five other students were severely injured after they were allegedly beaten up by senior student as part of a “welcoming” ritual.
Deputy police spokesperson Inspector ’Mareabetsoe Mofoka said the deceased young man was from White Hill, in Qacha’s Nek. The 21-year-old was confirmed dead on arrival at hospital.
Narrating the ordeal, Insp Mofoka said preliminary investigations revealed that the young man was strangled to death by his schoolmates and former students of the college.
She said police investigations show that the new students were taken to a deserted house in the nearby Mekanametsong village in the district where they were subjected to severe inhumane treatment.
She said the incident happened during the night. “They were severely kicked around the heads,” Insp Mofoka said, adding that process the dead man’s head was twirling which shows that his neck was twisted when he was killed.
Because of the kicks on their heads, the new students have severe headaches and now have to take pain killers to soothe the pain. When the victims were interrogated by the police, Insp Mofoka says they were made to kneel down and bury their heads on the floor so that they could not identify their perpetrators, said Insp Mofoka.
ome perpetrators are no longer attending school at the college and had simply come to torture the newcomers, she said. Insp Mofoka says it will be difficult to trace the suspects because they are no longer students of Leloaleng.
“They fled the scene and are now in hiding. But we will continue looking for the suspects so that they face the wrath of the law,” she said.
The former students usually nudge the newcomers that they have to join groups at the school to help them secure jobs after completing their studies. Police say they found out that there are two groups at the campus that the newcomers are persuaded to join Manomoro and Mekola.
But they are not forced to join. Insp Mofoka said what pushes the newcomers to join the groups is the belief that they are securing future employment opportunities, as is said by their perpetrators.
She said the newcomers suffer in silence because they would be looking forward to getting jobs upon completion of their studies. Insp Mofoka said Leloaleng students follow the same traditions as those at Lerotholi Polytechnic.
Dr Molefi Oliphant, the principal secretary for Higher Education, condemned the violence but said the ministry is yet to receive a formal report from the school. Dr Oliphant said although the school is privately owned, the ministry will not tolerate violence and killings witnessed at such institutions.
He said the school belongs to the Lesotho Evangelical Church of Southern Africa (LECSA), while the Technical School of Leribe (TSL) belongs to the Roman Catholic Church (RCC).
“The owners of these schools should help us eradicate barbarism at their schools,” Dr Oliphant said.
“We will act as soon as we receive the report,” said Dr Oliphant. He said the ministry will be guided by the actions it took regarding a similar situation at the Lerotholi Polytechnic.
Two Lerotholi Polytechnic students went missing after attending a ritual in the Mohokare River early last year, resulting in a police probe. At least six students have reportedly died as a direct result of the forced “initiations” over the years.
In 2018, the body of 21-year-old Rethabile Mosito was discovered at the institution’s football pitch in the early hours of 21 July the same year. He was the sixth student to die since 2009 as a result of the students’ initiation culture.
Amongst other strategies to eradicate this culture, is a proposal to rope in the army. Dr Oliphant said he only learnt of the unfortunate incident through the media and is still waiting for a formal report.
Leloaleng Technical Institute Rector Rutang Santi said authorities are devastated by the incident. He said this is the first time that a student had died at the college, adding that he could not comment much as investigations are still in progress.
“I will be able to analyse the situation once investigations have been completed,” Santi said.
The deaths at the technical schools (Fokothi and Leloaleng) in the country have left the parents in panic mode because they fear that their children will be killed once they enroll at such institutions. The problem of gangsterism in schools, from secondary to tertiary level, is a worldwide problem.
A United States-based online magazine called Campus Safety says many children “live in households that appear to be complete, but the elements of street life (gang life) are as strong inside as they are outside”.
The magazine says higher education administrators are often unaware of or ignore the fact that gang members are on their campuses. It proposes that education administrators should establish specific, measurable, achievable and timely goals.
The magazine says administrators should “develop an understanding of the gang’s history and the issues that exist surrounding the gangs in your area”.
“Broaden your knowledge base to develop an accurate perspective regarding your campus’s role within the local community,” it says.
“This includes how you work with grade schools, high schools and community organisations that are battling the same issue every day but may not have any regular connection with your college or university.
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“Gather as much information as you can about the gangs in the community that surrounds your campus. Working closely with local law enforcement is a helpful first step in this process. ”
The magazine recommends designing “an awareness program for everyone within your post-secondary community so that, when needed, the team can implement an effective response and support plan”. It says a basic step in developing an understanding of gang life is learning how to identify individuals who are involved in gangs.
A common set of member identifiers such as tattoos or dressing code, including accessories and colour combinations, tend to be the most obvious visual elements that most experts use in their identification efforts.
It says professors on a college campus, however, spend far less time with their students as opposed to resident advisers in dormitories. But “while resident advisors in dormitory settings might have more of an opportunity to observe students in a casual setting, do they know the signs of gang involvement?”
It says because commuting to a university campus is popular in urban settings, social life might never be observed on campus, thus making it impossible for someone employed by the campus to observe a gang-affiliated college student in their gang-connected setting.
The magazine says there are certain factors to be aware of as it relates to gang membership. The most basic is that membership is now generational and many current gang members have simply been born into gang life.
The simple fact that mom and dad are members of a particular gang means that their offspring are automatically members of the gang as well, it says. “Gangster at birth means gangster for life.
” It says well-educated members of a gang have as much to offer as the less educated street level members.
The magazine says earning degrees in accounting, business and law can result in a high functioning network of professionals who can eventually prove to be beneficial to well-organised gangs.
“With the assistance of well-educated members, a new world of opportunity is created that might look like legitimate businesses,” it says.
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