‘Family’ disowns dr owned suspect
MBABANE - There has been a debate in relation to the identity of the man believed to be the suspect who drowned in the Mbabane River while fleeing from the police last Thursday.
The debate started after a family, believed to be relatives of the deceased, disowned the corpse at the mortuary.
Information gathered was to the effect that the family inspected the body in the presence of the Royal Eswatini Police Service officers in Mbabane yesterday.
It is said that the family disowned the body after it observed some different features.
“Our brother is light in complexion and he is slender. His hair is different as he is coloured. The man found at the mortuary is dark in complexion. His body size is much bigger than that of our brother. The hair is also different,” said one of the family members who did not want his name published.
Relatives
“I think the police will have to issue an announcement calling for relatives of a missing person who meets the description of the deceased to visit the mortuary. Also, we want to know what happened to our brother since we heard that he was last seen when being chased by the police next to the river,” he said.
The disowning of the body by the family believed to be his relatives is said to have prompted the residents of Ezulwini to proceed to the mortuary to have a look.
However, it is said that the residents also failed to identify the body as that of Vusi ‘Kabasa’ Pheneshana. Among the residents was the landlord who leased a flat to ‘Kabasa’ as well as the mother of ‘Kabasa’s child.
“Yes, we have been to the mortuary to inspect the body. However, we had some difficulties in identifying him as the body does not have his features. The complexion has changed. We are also not used to his clothes except the brown boots with a CAT label,” said the landlord.
The landlord stated that they had since requested for a deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) test to identify the body since ‘Kabasa’ had a child.
DNA is the chemical name for the molecule that carries genetic instructions in all living things.
He said they were yet to go back to the mortuary for a thorough inspection. Asked about the possibilities of change of complexion and size in particular due to drowning, the residents maintained that they were not satisfied with the changes.
Asked about possibilities of change in people who died from drowning, Director of Health Services Dr Vusi Magagula said as far as he knew, skin colour changed immediately when blood stopped flowing. However, he said the changes could not be so much that one could not identify his/her relative.
“Changes may depend on the circumstances but ordinarily, a person cannot change from his features just because he/she had stayed for more than four days in water. Even if there
are changes, the person can be identifiable,” Magagula said.
Deputy Police Information and Communications Officer Inspector Nosipho Mnguni confirmed the confusion over the identity of the man who was found dead in the Mbabane River last Monday. Mnguni said what caused further confusion was that the man whom the residents believed to be the one who drowned in the river was nowhere to be seen since the incident happened. She said the police were working towards finding a way forward. She then appealed to the residents to come forth with any information that could assist in locating relatives of the deceased.
Asked about the plea for DNA, Mnguni said she was aware of the request.
She said procedurally, a post-mortem had to be conducted with the family. However, she said it would be difficult to conduct the post-mortem in the absence of the family.