Burial postponed due to missing tongue

A funeral wake for a 27-year-old Lower Gweru man who reportedly died after taking too much wine recently turned into a nightmare when relatives postponed the burial when they discovered that his tongue was missing. This was just a few hours before burial.
Phumuzile Ndlovu of Maboleni area in Lower Gweru had reportedly died of "drinking too much wine" at a traditional ceremony.
Sources said the relatives were stunned when they discovered that Ndlovu's tongue was missing while conducting rituals in preparation for the burial.
The relatives were forced to address mourners, announcing the postponement of the burial before they went on to report the matter to the police at Maboleni Police Station.
The incident, which has become the talk of Lower Gweru, occurred about two weeks ago in Mankunzane Village under Headman Khanda.
Ndlovu was, however, buried on Tuesday last week after his relatives filed a report of the missing tongue to the police and Headman Khanda.
In an interview yesterday, a spokesperson for the family, Mr Sam Ndlovu, said they were still in a state of disbelief and searching for answers to the "mysterious" incident.He said the family was now suspecting that their relative could have been murdered for ritual purposes.
"Given the reports that came from the police that our relative had died of drinking too much wine, we are now wondering how that wine could have destroyed his tongue. There could be more to this matter than what was presented to us in the police report," said Mr Ndlovu.
Mr Ndlovu who is also a pastor with a local missionary church said the family was eagerly waiting for the police to conclude their investigations following the availing of the fresh evidence surrounding Phumuzile's death.
"We are still in a state of shock following the incident and we have since left the matter in the hands of the police and the traditional leader. As a family, we highly suspect that our relative could have been killed for ritual purposes," he said.
Mr Ndlovu said Phumuzile died about two weeks ago after he had gone to attend a traditional ceremony in the same village.
He said their relative died at the homestead where the traditional ceremony was being held.
"When we were called to the scene, the now deceased appeared to have been dipped in water and blood was oozing from the mouth and the nose. This gave rise to the suspicion that our relative could have been murdered and that the police findings that Phumuzile had taken too much wine were not a true reflection of what had transpired," he said.
Mr Ndlovu said the bereaved family was forced to stop burial proceedings after they discovered that Phumuzile's tongue was missing.
"What surprised us was that the police who attended to the scene when the sudden death incident was reported did not mention that the tongue was missing. Even the post-mortem, which was conducted in Bulawayo, had no details to the effect that there was a missing body part," he said.
Mr Ndlovu said they were now left with more questions than answers surrounding the death of Phumuzile.
He said the family also launched a complaint with the police for failing to thoroughly inspect the body when they attended to the scene.
"We also have problems with the police at Maboleni Police Station. They were communicating directly with the family who own the homestead where our son died and all the developments were communicated through them as if they were the bereaved family yet we are the bereaved family," he said.
Acting police spokesperson for Midlands province Assistant Inspector Emmanuel Mahoko said they were still investigating circumstances surrounding the matter.