Police are investigating a case of the violation of a grave and the theft of the corpse in the Mopani District.
Modike Philemon Masedi’s body was allegedly dug up from the grave and stolen at the Sebakwe Section in the Mokwakwaila policing area.
Masedi died on 15 January 2022 and was buried seven days later.
Two weeks later, on Sunday 5 February 2023 a family member went to the cemetery to clean the gravesite in preparation for the upcoming gathering to unveil a tombstone.
That’s when she made the terrible discovery: a violated grave that had been dug open and a coffin without a corpse.
She alerted family members and the police were notified.
A preliminary probe conducted at the scene established that the suspects got into the graveyard by cutting a side fence.
The motive for this incident is unknown at this stage.
Lieutenant General Thembi Hadebe, the commissioner of police in Limpopo, called on community members in the area to respect the police’s unfolding investigations.
“Residents must not start pointing fingers as that often leads to vigilantism when people take the law into their own hands,” said Hadebe.
A case of violation of grave and theft was opened.
Compiled by Mashudu Mabila
Pictured above: Graveyard dug out and corpse stolen
Image source: Office of the Provincial Commissioner: Limpopo
