By: Justicia Shipena
The police in the Omusati region on Wednesday morning exhumed the remains of 59-year-old Hango Tuyeni.
This comes as the deceased son’s 25-year-old Reinhold Tuyeni was arrested on Tuesday for allegedly exhuming his father’s remains and burning his skull to ashes at Eengolo Cemetery.
“It took place this morning. We exhumed the body, and the doctors were performing their duty as usual for us to get some DNA samples for forensic investigation purposes,” said Omusati investigation coordinator deputy commissioner Moses Simaho.
Hango died in May this year and was buried in the same month after a mentally ill person gruesomely murdered him from the village.
Reports show that he was stabbed 16 times after separating two young men who were fighting at a cuca shop in Eengolo village in the Outapi constituency.
The suspect in his killing was arrested but was later released because he allegedly has an unspecified mental condition.
Simaho said the police are looking at matching the DNA of the sample taken from the remains to the remains of the burnt skull.
“If it can match, then we conclude our investigations. It depends on the results to establish the way forward,” he said.
The incident had sent shockwaves, with Simaho stating that the resident of the region were shocked and that it is a first of its kind in the area.
“It is a shocking incident, and it is regretful, but we don’t know the suspect’s motive. All will be proven by court and investigations,” he said.
Additionally, the police also asked for a medical examination to be carried out on the suspect.
Reports further show that the crime allegedly occurred last Wednesday around 11h00 at the local cemetery.
However, Omusati police commander Titus Shikongo said the incident was only reported to the police on Monday after the community alerted the police.
According to Shikongo, the suspect, who is the biological son of the deceased, dug up the grave, removed the father’s skull, and burned it near the cemetery.
Reinhold appeared at Outapi Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday on charges of violating a grave, violating a corpse and defeating the course of justice.
Upon making his first appearance, he was denied bail and will remain in custody. Reinhold’s case was postponed to 3 November 2022 to allow for legal aid representation and further investigations.
At the back of it, clinical psychologist Dr Shaun Whitaker linked the incident to a general state of unresolved anger, which, he said, may spur an individual into violating even the dead.
Whitaker also said the incident might leave some of the family members dealing with the traumatic effects of the experience while also linking the gruesome crime to the public cloud of anger-management issues that continue to pervade society.
