News / National
Woman's body floats in river for 4 days
12 Jul 2017 at 06:52hrs | Views
POLICE are investigating the circumstances leading to the death of a woman whose body was found floating in Gweru River.
The investigation comes at a time when Mtapa residents are up in arms with the police whom they are accusing of failing to remove the decomposing body from a nearby river for the past four days.
The Chronicle saw the decomposing body floating in the river which is along the Harare-Bulawayo railway line at around 2PM yesterday.
The body was removed by the Gweru Fire Brigade after about an hour.
Residents said the body had been floating in Gweru River since Sunday.
"This body has been floating in the river since Sunday morning and up to now the police haven't done anything. We alerted them and they told us to stay away from the body.
"We are angry because the part where the body is floating is shallow and we can get the body out of the river and identify it. Since the place is shallow, we don't know if the person drowned or was murdered first before the body was dumped in the river," said Mr Terrence Nyoni before the arrival of the Fire Brigade.
Mrs Judith Maseko said police had told them they were waiting for the sub aqua unit to come and retrieve the body.
Ward 6 councillor Joas Tsanyau said the unidentified body was seen by residents who were crossing the river from Mtapa suburb going into the city centre.
He said police were called and they attended the scene but did not remove the body from the shallow river.
The fire brigade later removed the body.
Midlands acting police spokesperson Assistant Inspector Ethel Mukwende could not comment on why the police failed to retrieve the body without delay.
She however, said investigations were underway to establish the cause of death.
"I can confirm that a body of a female adult has been retrieved from Gweru River close to Mtapa Suburb.
"We are still to ascertain the cause of her death and police investigations are underway. We are appealing to members of the public who are missing a female relative to come forward and identify the body which is being kept at Gweru Provincial Hospital mortuary. The body is in an advanced stage of decomposition," Asst Insp Mukwende said.
The investigation comes at a time when Mtapa residents are up in arms with the police whom they are accusing of failing to remove the decomposing body from a nearby river for the past four days.
The Chronicle saw the decomposing body floating in the river which is along the Harare-Bulawayo railway line at around 2PM yesterday.
The body was removed by the Gweru Fire Brigade after about an hour.
Residents said the body had been floating in Gweru River since Sunday.
"This body has been floating in the river since Sunday morning and up to now the police haven't done anything. We alerted them and they told us to stay away from the body.
"We are angry because the part where the body is floating is shallow and we can get the body out of the river and identify it. Since the place is shallow, we don't know if the person drowned or was murdered first before the body was dumped in the river," said Mr Terrence Nyoni before the arrival of the Fire Brigade.
Mrs Judith Maseko said police had told them they were waiting for the sub aqua unit to come and retrieve the body.
Ward 6 councillor Joas Tsanyau said the unidentified body was seen by residents who were crossing the river from Mtapa suburb going into the city centre.
He said police were called and they attended the scene but did not remove the body from the shallow river.
The fire brigade later removed the body.
Midlands acting police spokesperson Assistant Inspector Ethel Mukwende could not comment on why the police failed to retrieve the body without delay.
She however, said investigations were underway to establish the cause of death.
"I can confirm that a body of a female adult has been retrieved from Gweru River close to Mtapa Suburb.
"We are still to ascertain the cause of her death and police investigations are underway. We are appealing to members of the public who are missing a female relative to come forward and identify the body which is being kept at Gweru Provincial Hospital mortuary. The body is in an advanced stage of decomposition," Asst Insp Mukwende said.
Source - chronicle
