Anger, devastation at Namibian police as family buries wrong body
A family in Tsumeb in northern Namibia are angry and distraught after police gave them the remains of another person to bury instead of that of their relative.
Local news outlet The Namibian which reported the issue noted that the deceased, Awaseb had been in the mortuary since May 2023 and his supposed remains were released on May 26 for the family to perform burial rites.
The family were informed in August that they buried the wrong person after the mortuary attendant realized that the body of their relative was still in the morgue.
According to The Namibian, Clara Thomas, a niece of the deceased told Desert Radio through a translator on Monday, October 30 that the body was brought to the family from Otavi where it had been kept. The family met them about 10 kilometres from the police station and “the body was loaded into their vehicle by the police who then returned to Otavi without knowing about those waiting outside the mortuary.”
The family which is unhappy about the development has blamed the Namibian police who they said had warned against viewing the body during burial on grounds that the body was already partly decomposed.
Clara Thomas further expressed devastation over the situation, while indicating the lack of funds to give their uncle a befitting burial.
“We already spent so much on burying the wrong remains and now our very own is still lying in the mortuary,” she was quoted by The Namibian.
Meanwhile, the police have acknowledged and apologized for the situation but have since not responded to several calls and emails about the issue.
