The first lady of Lesotho was charged with murdering her husband’s former wife, who was shot just days before the prime minister was inaugurated.
First lady Maesaiah Thabane, 42, appeared in court Wednesday and is being held in custody, according to reports. She also faces an attempted murder charge of a second woman who was with the former first lady on the night of her death.
Prime Minister Thomas Thabane, 80, has also been questioned about the killing of his ex-wife Lipolelo Thabane, who was shot dead outside her home two days before his inauguration in June 2017. The couple was going through a bitter divorce at the time and had been living apart since 2012.
On the day Thomas Thabane was questioned in the case, hundreds of opposition supporters marched through the streets demanding his resignation. He announced his intention to resign on Jan. 16 but did not say when he would step down.
In his inauguration speech, he described the murder as a “senseless killing.”
The first lady became a prime suspect after she disappeared in January, police said. An arrest warrant was then issued, and she turned herself in Tuesday morning at a police station close to the border with South Africa.
The prime minister married Maesaiah Thabane less than three months after his previous wife’s death.
