The police in Limpopo have launched an investigation after a corpse was dug up and stolen by unknown people.
The incident, which was reported to the police on Sunday, took place in Senakwe section in Mokwakwaila, Mopani district.
Brigadier Motlafela Mojapelo, spokesperson for the police, said the theft was noticed by a family member who had gone to the cemetery on Sunday to clean the gravesite in preparation for the unveiling of a tombstone.
She alerted other family members and the matter was reported to the police. Upon arrival at the cemetery, the police discovered an open coffin. The corpse had vanished.
“A preliminary probe conducted at the scene established that the suspect[s] accessed the graveyard by cutting a side fence. They then dug a hole next to the grave to gain access to the coffin and stole the corpse,” said Mojapelo.
The deceased, Modike Philemon Masedi, reportedly died on January 15 and was buried seven days later on January 22.
Lieutenant-General Thembi Hadebe, Limpopo provincial police commissioner, has expressed shock and disgust at the incident, and ordered that the perpetrators be hunted down and brought to book.
“We call on community members in the area to respect the unfolding investigations conducted by the police and desist from pointing fingers, as these often play into instigators of vigilantism in which people take the law into their own hands,” said Hadebe.
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