Marthina Mutanga
RESIDENTS of the Osire refugee camp near Otjiwarongo region broke into the camp’s mortuary to steal the body of a loved one who died of COVID-19 on Sunday.
The Otjozondjupa Regional Crime Investigations Coordinator, Deputy Commissioner Moses Khairabeb confirmed the incident said that a group of 200 people broke in and carried the body that was wrapped in plastic sheets away to bury it themselves.
The deceased person passed away while admitted to a hospital in Otjiwarongo. The body was transported back to the camp’s mortuary.
He said that the results come back positive while the body was still in the mortuary at Osire.
According to Deputy Commissioner Khairabeb, the people staying in the camp do not believe that COVID-19 exists and that is why they decided to break in steal the body to bury their loved one themselves.
“They took the body, carried it to the camp’s cemetery where they buried the deceased person,” he said.
Deputy Commissioner Khairabeb said that all the persons involved in the theft of the body were placed in mandatory isolation and that the police now has to wait for seven days to pass to arrest the people responsible.
He indicated that half of all the residents of the refugee camp came into contact with the people that handled the stolen body and said that some of the residents face charges of breaking and entering, theft, and charges related to the contravention of new regulations promulgated under the environmental en health acts after the State of Emergency lapsed a week ago.
He said that some of the charges were laid by health officials from the Otjozondjupa Region.
