Family dumps corpse at police station

CHAOS reigned supreme at Gweru's Mtapa high density suburb yesterday when aggrieved residents and family members dumped the body of Tatenda Kasinyore, known as "Nyale", near Monomutapa Police Station entrance where he was detained before falling sick and later dying at a local hospital.

Kasinyore (28) allegedly died on Wednesday after being detained at the police station where he had been arrested for an alleged disorderly conduct following a complaint by a fellow resident that he was being a nuisance and throwing stones at her house. The residents and relatives are accusing police officers of having assaulted Kasinyore when he turned violent while he was trying to resist arrest.

Business was temporarily brought to a halt along Gweru-Matobo Road when residents left the body in the middle of the road close to the police station. Police had to fire teargas to disperse residents who were gathered outside the police station while some were marching on the streets after allegedly being influenced by civic society organisations and purported human rights activists who had allegedly hijacked the funeral.

National police spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi said police had to disperse residents who had violated Covid-19 lockdown regulations to have a maximum of 30 people gathering at a funeral.

Asst Comm Nyathi said police had to maintain law and order after some unnamed civil society organisations and purported human rights activists hijacked the funeral resulting in the commotion.

"According to the Covid-19 regulations, funeral gatherings are limited to 30 people. So we discovered that the people who had gathered for the funeral were exceeding 30 and police had to disperse people. On the other had we realised that there were some civil organisations and purported human rights activists who had taken advantage of the situation so, police had to maintain law and order," he said.

Asst Comm Nyathi said Kasinyore died at Gweru Provincial Hospital in the early hours of Wednesday after being detained at Monomutapa Police Station.

"People in Mtapa called the police making a report of a person who was drunk and breaking window panes. The police arrested him and found him with drugs and he was drunk. They detained him and put him in a holding cell at Monomutapa Police Station. At around 4am, some suspects sharing the cell with him alerted the police that he was vomiting before an ambulance was called. He died at Gweru Provincial Hospital," he said.

Asst Comm Nyathi said police were carrying out further investigations to establish what led to Kasinyore's death.

"The matter is being investigated by the police and the public should allow the ongoing investigations to proceed smoothly," he said.