A MAN from Old Pumula in Bulawayo Josphat Ndlovu (27) was found hanging in police cells on Sunday morning after being detained on Friday night over a stolen cellphone.
LUYANDUHLOBO MAKWATI OWN CORRESPONDENT
It was alleged that Ndlovu was picked up for questioning by the police on Friday and when he was about to be released the following day, another police officer discovered that the deceased was on the wanted list for a 2007 murder. Ndlovu was alleged to be part of a gang that brutally attacked a man at Old Pumula beer garden.
The man later died from injuries sustained in the attack.
The gang was arrested over the murder and they were remanded out of custody when they appeared in court. However, Ndlovu and some of the gang members absconded.
Ndlovu was then detained for another night on Saturday and was due to be interrogated for absconding the murder trial.
The deceased’s father Mkhizo Ndlovu said his son was discovered hanging from the window of a detention cell at the Old Pumula Police Station on Sunday morning when police opened the cell for another detainee.
He said Ndlovu had used a blanket in the cell to hang himself.
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“I am pained by the loss of my child, but I cannot do anything as he was in police custody. I went there and we saw him hanging with the blanket tied around his neck,” the visibly shaken father, said.
The deceased’s uncle Victor Mnkandla said they did not suspect any foul and had taken the police explanation as the truth.
“We saw the boy hanging. He made a rope from the blanket that was in the cell and used it to commit suicide so we believe what happened is true since my nephew was in police cells,” Mnkandla said.
Contacted for comment, Bulawayo provincial police spokesperson Inspector Mandlenkosi Moyo said he was out of town.
“I am not around. I’m in Harare and am yet to gather details of what happened,” Moyo said.
