He was supposed to be buried on Sunday last week. But the burial did not take place. An open grave at Manamani village bears testimony to this heartbreaking incident. This is the sad story of the young victim of alleged ritual murder, Mulweli Nemadandila (7).

The funeral was called off because the independent pathologist, who was supposed to conduct another post-mortem at Tshilidzini Hospital on Thursday last week, withdrew at the eleventh hour! The reasons for his withdrawal were unclear. This means that the body of the little boy is still lying in the mortuary until another independent pathologist is found. No one knows when the boy will be buried, as there was no clue of any new pathologist at the time of going to press.

The drama comes after the little boy’s body was found floating in the Dzondo River last month. Some of his body parts, including the testicles, lips, right eye and parts of the ears, were missing. Villagers strongly believe the young boy was murdered for muti, but the state pathologist’s report indicated that the body parts had been eaten by fish. Villagers collected R10 per household to hire a private pathologist, because they believed that results of the state pathologist were tampered with, as they claim that the river does not have big fish that can eat human body parts in a methodical way.

Villagers also accuse the police of dragging their feet in arresting known suspects within the village.

The village’s Sanco chairperson, Solomon Magodi, said they were surprised to learn that the pathologist withdrew at the eleventh hour. “We initially scheduled the burial for last Sunday, because we knew we would be having the results of the post mortem by then. We were seriously disappointed to learn that the pathologist did not turn up as we had finalized all the logistics, including the finances. We want a full explanation of the cause of death before the boy is buried…”

Magodi said the boy would be buried after another pathologist had been secured.

Mirror’s visit to Manamani graveyard saw an open grave which had been dug for the burial of the little boy. The spirit at the graveyard was somber, as family members pointed at the open grave with grief.

“It hurts to see this open grave on a daily basis because we want our boy to be buried. Why should we suffer because someone is too lazy to do his job? The little boy’s soul will never rest in peace until his killers are brought to book. As a family, we were also disappointed to learn that the pathologist had withdrawn at the eleventh hour. Together with the village leadership, we will do all our best to find the exact cause of death before the boy is buried,” said Mulweli’s angry uncle, Nnditsheni Ramuedi.

The dead boy’s weeping mother, Meriam, who has not eaten for days, said she would not rest until justice prevailed. “This is clearly an act of ritual murder and I know that one day the truth will come out. I know I have lost a wonderful gift in my boy, but I believe that God will speak for me until the perpetrators are brought to book…”