By: Anton Mbinge
A body of a baby has remained unclaimed at the Windhoek Namibian Police mortuary for over six years. The baby, suspected to have been dumped, is among 38 unclaimed bodies . Khomas police spokesperson Silas Shipandeni said the 38 unclaimed bodies exceed the mortuary capacity limit of 36.
“So far, we can say , we have more than 30 unclaimed bodies at the police mortuary, which is a serious concern because it comes with the capacity issue of this facility. The capacity of this facility is only 36 but now we have more than 30 unclaimed bodies ,”stated Shipandeni adding they have kept a body which belongs to a baby for over six years.
According to Shipandeni, majority of the unclaimed bodies are those of people who were bumped on public roads and found without identification documents.
Shipandeni stated the police follow necessary procedures such as taking fingerprints and sending them to the Ministry of Home Affairs, Immigration, Safety and Security but sometimes the ministry system does not reflect the identity of the person.
"Some of them (bodies) we discover in riverbeds. Some people were killed in riverbeds and the person does not have any identity, otherwise it is an issue of baby dumping".
As a result, Shipandeni urged members of the public to make it a habit to look for their loved ones if they have not seen them in a while.
When asked why the police does not donate unclaimed bodies to academic insitution for pratical lessons, Shipandeni responded they are not authorised. "The only thing we can do is cremate them".
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