Family shocked by missing corpse

Tue, 06 Feb 2018 07:28:13 +0000

By MOSES SINJWALA

 A FAMILY in Western Province are in shock after discovering that the body of their 75-year-old albino father had been stolen from its grave together with the casket in which he had been buried.

The macabre finding was made almost a year after the man’s death in Mutuwambwa village, when the family noticed during a visit to the graveyard, that his grave was open and the earth had been moved.

According to Albino Foundation of Zambia president John Chiti, the family then alerted police who rushed to the cemetery to confirm the incident.

Mr Chiti has condemned the development. “We strongly condemn the theft of the body of an albinal man that happened on Saturday 27th January 2018 in Western Province of Zambia.”

Mr Chiti said that Mr Lernard Kombelwe was a person with albinism who died from skin cancer on 4th August 2016, and was buried in his village, Mutuwambwa.

“Mr Kombelwe died at the age of 75, and had been in the grave for a year and some month up to this time when his family noticed that his grave had been tampered with, and they quickly notified the police about the matter,” he said.

He said that the police who came on the scene, confirmed that the body and coffin had been exhumed and stolen.

“This belief that albino body parts can cure diseases and make one rich has put our lives in danger. We are being hunted alive and we are attacked even when we die, shall we not rest in peace?” Mr Chiti lamented.

“I wish to warn everyone involved in this kind of business that your days are numbered, one day the law will catch up with you, and we pray that there is no mercy given as well,” he charged.

Mr Chiti has however, asked people living with albinism to remain calm but cautioned them to be vigilant and always take precautions, while the police are doing their best to bring the culprits to book.

“Take precautions and be vigilant as we have noted in most cases there is always a person close to the victim who is involved,” he alleged.

He questioned how the robbers knew exactly where the late Mr Kombelwe’s body was buried especially that he was buried in 2016.