News / Local
Family demands corpse's foot from hospital
08 Apr 2014 at 06:22hrs | Views
A FAMILY from Kombo in Insiza is demanding the foot of its late son from authorities at the United Bulawayo Hospitals (UBH) after they found it missing when they went to collect his body for burial.
The Nkomo family yesterday said their son, Daniel, was one of the seven people who died on the spot when a vehicle veered off the road and hit them as they attended to a broken down car along the Bulawayo-Harare Highway near Shangani on March 7, 2014.
Thomas Nkomo, 84, said when they collected his son's body for burial, they were shocked to find his left foot missing despite having sent the body intact to the hospital.
He vowed to engage traditional healers and prophets to punish whoever was involved in what he believes was a ritual mutilation of his son's body.
"I have been having sleepless nights ever since my son was buried because I do not know where my son's left foot is and what it was used for.
"I will do anything it takes to find out what happened and I will surely seek revenge.
"The boy was my breadwinner and to think someone at the mortuary made money out of his foot shatters me.
"It is taboo to possess human body parts and I warn whoever did that to my son to return the foot because I will not rest until I find it," said Nkomo who was holding back tears.
He added that he was seeking advice from prophets and traditional healers to help him locate the foot.
"I attended the accident scene where my son died and I am the one who removed his shoes from his feet and tied his legs together before handing the body over to the police," said Nkomo.
"I was shocked when collecting the body and the pathologist claimed he had no left foot. The whole mortuary was searched as we thought there was a mistake but to our disappointment his foot was not found.
"In the end we were forced to bury him without it."
Hebert Fuzane, uncle to the late Daniel said he assisted in removing the shoes from the body on the day of the accident and saw both feet intact.
"I was there when police collected the seven bodies. One of my sons was also a victim. We have failed to get an explanation about what happened to the foot and even police are not helping us.
"We were referred from one office to the other when the pathologist told us my nephew had a missing foot but no one could tell us what happened at the UBH mortuary. I am sure someone cut it off for rituals," he said.
A comment could not be obtained from UBH public relations officer Nobuhle Thaka.
She asked Chronicle to call after five minutes but could not be reached on her mobile phone thereafter until the time of going to Press.
An official at UBH who spoke on condition of anonymity confirmed the missing foot had sparked a series of investigations at the referral hospital.
"This is not the first case where you hear families complaining of missing body parts. Our mortuary needs serious investigations because many body parts have been disappearing mysteriously over the last few months.
"No one knows what happened to the foot and I can imagine what the family is going through," said the official.
The Nkomo family yesterday said their son, Daniel, was one of the seven people who died on the spot when a vehicle veered off the road and hit them as they attended to a broken down car along the Bulawayo-Harare Highway near Shangani on March 7, 2014.
Thomas Nkomo, 84, said when they collected his son's body for burial, they were shocked to find his left foot missing despite having sent the body intact to the hospital.
He vowed to engage traditional healers and prophets to punish whoever was involved in what he believes was a ritual mutilation of his son's body.
"I have been having sleepless nights ever since my son was buried because I do not know where my son's left foot is and what it was used for.
"I will do anything it takes to find out what happened and I will surely seek revenge.
"The boy was my breadwinner and to think someone at the mortuary made money out of his foot shatters me.
"It is taboo to possess human body parts and I warn whoever did that to my son to return the foot because I will not rest until I find it," said Nkomo who was holding back tears.
He added that he was seeking advice from prophets and traditional healers to help him locate the foot.
"I attended the accident scene where my son died and I am the one who removed his shoes from his feet and tied his legs together before handing the body over to the police," said Nkomo.
"I was shocked when collecting the body and the pathologist claimed he had no left foot. The whole mortuary was searched as we thought there was a mistake but to our disappointment his foot was not found.
"In the end we were forced to bury him without it."
Hebert Fuzane, uncle to the late Daniel said he assisted in removing the shoes from the body on the day of the accident and saw both feet intact.
"I was there when police collected the seven bodies. One of my sons was also a victim. We have failed to get an explanation about what happened to the foot and even police are not helping us.
"We were referred from one office to the other when the pathologist told us my nephew had a missing foot but no one could tell us what happened at the UBH mortuary. I am sure someone cut it off for rituals," he said.
A comment could not be obtained from UBH public relations officer Nobuhle Thaka.
She asked Chronicle to call after five minutes but could not be reached on her mobile phone thereafter until the time of going to Press.
An official at UBH who spoke on condition of anonymity confirmed the missing foot had sparked a series of investigations at the referral hospital.
"This is not the first case where you hear families complaining of missing body parts. Our mortuary needs serious investigations because many body parts have been disappearing mysteriously over the last few months.
"No one knows what happened to the foot and I can imagine what the family is going through," said the official.
Source - chronicle
