Mysterious death in police cellNo witnesses to fatal throat injury The family of a man who died in a police cell last year after a fight at a construction site are accusing the police of dragging their feet in investigating the case. ILENI NANDJATOUnder the ombudsman’s watch, the police are exploring all avenues to determine the cause of 38-year-old Nestor Nghinamulili’s death in police custody at Ongwediva last year.
Family spokesperson Lavinia Nangolo told Namibian Sun that it is now a year since he died, but they are still in the dark as to who killed him and why.
Nghinamulili, who hailed from Oshihepo village near Eenhana in the Ohangwena Region, was arrested by the Ongwediva police on the evening of 11 October 2015 for allegedly assaulting a colleague with a pickaxe handle during an argument at a construction site. The victim was found unconscious and ended up in the intensive care unit (ICU) of the Oshakati Intermediate Hospital. He survived the attack.
Nghinamulili, however, died two hours after his arrest. The regional police commander for Oshana, Commissioner Rauha Amwele, ordered a post-mortem to be carried within 24 hours of his death, but did not inform Nghinamulili’s family of this.
Nghinamulili was arrested around 22:00. He was put alone in a cell and at around 00:00 he was found dead in his cell. The autopsy was conducted on 12 October and in the report the pathologist indicated that, “the cause of death to the best of my knowledge and belief was undetermined”.
However, the doctor went further to say “prior to my examination, the cause/causes of death was/were a neck injury.”
The police failed to explain to the family what happened and they vowed not to bury the body while the death certificate states the cause of death as “the police investigation continues”.
They also want to know why an autopsy was carried out without the family’s consent. The family reported the issue to the ombudsman and they were advised to bury the body while the police investigation continued. Nghinamulili was to be buried on 22 October last year.
On the morning of 22 October, however, the prosecutor-general ordered a second autopsy and the body was reclaimed by the police while the family was busy with the burial at the Eenhana cemetery.
The second post-mortem that was conducted in Windhoek on 23 October indicated that Nghinamulili died of “blunt force neck trauma”. The post-mortem also indicated that there were contusions and blood loss in the soft tissues in the front of the neck and a fracture of right greater horn of the hyoid bone. The hyoid bone is a horseshoe-shaped bone situated in the front of the neck between the chin and the Adam’s apple. Due to its position, the hyoid bone is not susceptible to fractures and thus a fractured hyoid strongly indicates throttling or strangulation in an adult.
Nghinamulili was finally buried on 30 October last year after the police released the two autopsy reports.
The director of investigations in the ombudsman’s office, Timoteus Shangadi, confirmed to Namibian Sun that the family had reported the matter to them. He said that the office had not carried out any further investigations due to the complicated nature of the case and was monitoring the police investigation to make sure that it is a fair process.
“The problem is that there is no evidence that police could have assaulted the deceased. Witnesses are not open to talk, while police are also not providing evidence as to whether Nghinamulili was showing any signs of injury during the arrest. The police have not closed the investigation yet. They are now waiting for a toxicology report to determine if Nghinamulili had any toxic substances in his blood before he was arrested,” Shangadi said.
Namibian Sun has also learned that the police are considering only two options: Either Nghinamulili was assaulted by his attack victim, or he died of a toxic substance consumed before his arrest. They have already opened an inquest docket alleging that the attack victim had assaulted Nghinamulili.
“Now the hope is in the toxicology report. If it emerges that he was not intoxicated, the matter will go to court to determine who murdered him. Doctors who performed the autopsy, witnesses and police officers who arrested him will testify in court,” Shangadi said.