VHUFULI - The death of a psychiatric patient in the Vhufulwi Hospital a fortnight ago left the hospital in hot water.

Mr Thinandavha Mapholi of Tshifudi Village had been a psychiatric patient at the Vhufuli hospital for many years. It is alleged that on October 3 he told the nurses that he was going to the toilet and accidentally went into the bathroom, where he open the hot water tap and filled the bath.

According to the statement from the liaison officer, Phuti Seloba, Mr Mapholi allegedly burnt when he jumped into the hot bath. The nurses found him dead in the bathroom and the matter was reported to the provincial Department of Health and Welfare.

The Department of Health and Welfare is accused of lying to the community in a radio report, as they allegedly said that they had already fixed the problem with the Mapholi family at Tshifudi village.

According to Prince Mapholi, son of the deceased, the family just saw a man in a uniform of the department during the funeral and that the man mentioned nothing to the family.

He said that Health and Welfare should not lie to the community when they say that the Mapholi family is aware of what happened that led to the death of the old man. "We have accepted the death of our father, but there was no official report from the Department of Health that shows us how he died." Another aspect that baffled the Mapholi family is that every psychiatric patient is under the supervision of the nurses, "but how did Mapholi go to the toilet and die in the bathroom alone," his son said.

"When we went to the hospital, we always found our father complaining about pains in the legs," he added.

The Tshifudi community slammed the Department of Health for lying on the radio, and appealled to the Vhufuli hospital to send delegates to the family of Mapholi, in order to settle the issue.