Thieves have stolen a corpse from the grave in South Africa

The Police at Mokwakwaila in the Mopani District have launched an investigation of violation of grave and theft of the corpse after the body of the deceased was dug out of the grave and stolen by unknown suspect(s) at Senakwe Section in Mokwakwaila policing area.

One of the family members had on Sunday, 05 February 2023, reportedly gone to the cemetery to clean the gravesite in preparation for the upcoming gathering of unveiling of the tombstone, when she discovered that the grave was dug open and the corpse stolen. She then alerted family members and Police were also notified.

The Police, upon arriving at the scene, discovered an open coffin with no corpse inside. A Preliminary probe conducted at the scene established that the suspect(s) accessed the graveyard by cutting the side fence. They then dug a hole next to the grave to gain access to the coffin and stole the corpse.

Modike Philemon Masedi whose body was stolen, reportedly died on 15 January 2022 and was buried seven days later on 22 January 2022. The motive for this incident is unknown at this stage.

"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," concluded Lieutenant General Hadebe.

Cases of violation of grave and theft were opened.