Africa-Press – Zimbabwe. The family of Ignatius Matshotsho Moyo, a war veteran from Brunapeg, Matabeleland South, who went missing in September 2024, has accused the police of misleading them about human bones recently found in Tshingababili under Chief Tshitshi.
Upon visiting the site, the family discovered that the bones had already been buried without proper forensic procedures.
This has fueled suspicions that the remains could be those of their missing relative, contradicting police claims that the remains had not yet been buried.
In an interview with CITE, the missing person’s uncle, Milton Fabion Moyo, said that the family visited the site last Thursday to verify the status of the remains. Said Moyo:
I specifically went to see the site since they said the bones were secured. We saw the bones had been buried. We were there with the person who had discovered the bones.L
There were eight of us who went to bear testimony. I was with other relatives Raphael George Mpofu, Pios Mpofu, David Mpofu, Rudolph Mpofu, and myself.
The others present included Khulekani Dube, the person who discovered the bones, along with his brother and another relative of the family who lives in the area.
Moyo expressed confusion over the police’s contradictory statements. He said:
I don’t understand what the police are up to, because when we went there, the bones were still buried, yet they claimed the bones were safe.
The family said they will now demand an exhumation and proper forensic testing to confirm whether the remains belong to Ignatius, who went missing on September 11, 2024.
Dube, who discovered the remains, also confirmed to CITE that the bones were buried after the police allegedly gave the “go-ahead.” Said Dube:
I am the one who discovered the bones, and I stay in Tshingababili. I came across the bones when I was gathering the livestock and stumbled upon them.
The Chief said we could bury the bones where I had found them. We went to the police and also went to the scene.
The police said they don’t have a report of a missing person. The police are the ones who gave the go-ahead for us to bury.
Matabeleland South Acting Police Spokesperson, Assistant Inspector Stanford Mguni, had earlier denied that the remains had been buried, insisting that the police had kept them for forensic examination. He said:
There is a missing person who was travelling from one village to another. One village falls under one police station, while another falls under a different one in Chief Tshitshi’s area.
For now, I don’t have details on who is missing, as the case is still under investigation, but we do have a case involving human remains that were found.
The police are on the ground, documenting everything and securing the remains for DNA analysis.
Ignatius went missing after travelling to Bulawayo with his wife to collect remittances from Doves Funeral Services for his late mother, who had passed away in August. After the trip, he decided to return to Mphoengs while his wife stayed in Bulawayo.
Ignatius boarded a private vehicle heading toward Plumtree but got off near Figtree, saying he had forgotten something in Bulawayo. Since then, he has not been seen, leaving his family devastated.
The family now believes that the mishandling of the recently discovered remains is preventing them from finding closure in his disappearance.
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