The family of a man from Harabali Posaito, in the Nzhelele area, who was allegedly arrested and charged with rape a fortnight ago, is questioning the police after they were informed that he had hanged himself inside his prison cell.
The deceased, Tsumbedzo Reginald Nndwambi (36), was an unemployed, married man with three children. He was arrested on Thursday, 25 July, and was placed in police custody, but according to the police, he hanged himself inside his prison cell on the same day.
The late man's elder brother, Mr Londani Given Maluleke, said that on that fateful day, he had received a call from an unknown person urging him to visit the Mphephu police station as a matter there needed his urgent attention. "I could not go there as I am based in Gauteng. So, I asked my brother's wife and my sister to go to the police station, where they were met with the sad news that my brother had hanged himself. This came as such a shock to the family. He was not sick, and we did not even know that he had been arrested." By that time, Nndwambi's body had already been moved to the government mortuary at Tshilidzini Hospital.
Maluleke said the family was convinced that the police were hiding something as they found believing that their brother would have committed suicide difficult. "We have many unanswered questions around this sad incident. We know that in all unnatural deaths, the family should be notified and asked to identify the body. This was not done. We would not have so many doubts if we had seen the body where he had killed himself, but we never did. We even asked for pictures of him at the scene, but they are not forthcoming either.
"We were told that he hanged himself in the waiting cell at the charge office, which is very unlikely as there are always people around. There were discrepancies around the time of the incident as we were told he hanged himself at around 20:00, but his phone showed he logged out at around 23:00.
"When I went to the mortuary to see his body, they would not let me enter, saying they were busy conducting the postmortem. We never got to see his body until right before we buried him. The explanations we received do not add up, and this makes us suspect that maybe he did not commit suicide but was killed instead. We will not rest until the truth comes out, and we are briefing lawyers with the intention of suing the police," Maluleke said.
The Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID)'s national spokesperson, Mr Robbie Raburabu, confirmed that they had received a complaint against the police. He said that an investigation had been conducted, and that Nndwambi's death had been found to be consistent with hanging. "The IPID regrets any death that takes place in police custody, and we wish to convey our sincere condolences to the family of the deceased," he said.