Police exhume two bodies in Mzuzu

Two bodies were exhumed from Zolozolo cemetery in Mzuzu on Friday following demand by the deceased’s family members.

The bodies of two relations who died in a road accident, were buried at Zolozolo cemetery without family consent and knowledge.

Uncle to the deceased young men, James Lwombe, told Mana that Chiza Lwombe 19 and Vitumbiko Kaunda 22, left home for School on February 26, 2020 but never communicated to the family again, a development which raised suspicions in the family.

“We decided to make a follow up only for us to hear some rumours that there was an accident involving a Post Office coach and a motorbike on which the two were travelling, along the M1 Road as we head to Mzimba from Mzuzu.

“This made us to go to the police and there we found the motorbike the boys were riding on and police confirmed that they were dead, “he said.

Lwombe said Police advised them that bodies for the two wereat Mzuzu Central Hospital Mortuary.

“But when we went there we learnt that the bodies had already been buried with the help of police without our consent.

“We went back to police and demanded that we needed the bodies back.We were told to pay the officers who escorted us to the cemetery,” he added.

Lwombe said three Police Officers and two Prison warders were paid a sum of K15 000 each and t hat the family paid K15 000 to eight prisoners to share among themselves for exhuming the bodies.

He said the family was dismayed as to why their children had to be buried in such a hurry and manner without any effort to reach the family members.
Mzuzu Police Publicist, Edith Kachotsa confirmed to Mana that the accident happened on the said date.

She said one boy died on the spot while the other was pronounced dead the next day at the hospital.

Kachotsa said after the bodies stayed at the mortuary for some days, they received a call that there were 6 bodies that needed to be buried at the hospital because they were going bad.

“We asked the prison to help us bury the bodies without knowledge that the bodies of the two boys were among them.

“Normally we keep bodies for close to a month before taking them for burial when no one comes forward to claim them. We only discovered that they were buried after the family showed up,” she said.

The Publicist said on the fateful day, the boys who were riding a motorcycle decided to overtake three cars at once and ended up colliding with a postal bus coming from Mzuzu to Lilongwe.

Source:Mana