Suspect dies in police custody
A suspect died in a police cell at Blantyre Police Station last Monday, and police told his family that he committed suicide by hanging, a claim the family is refusing to believe.
Wife and a brother to the deceased visited Blantyre Police Station on Monday morning, only to be informed of the news that Yotamu Singano committed suicide, allegedly by hanging himself during the night.
Family members said police told them that Singano had hung himself using a T-shirt.
Blantyre Police Station spokesperson Elizabeth Divala alleged that the deceased had multiple burglary and theft charges he was answering to and Blantyre Police picked him from Bvumbwe Police Sub-Station where he was also being held to answer other criminal charges.
“So, it is like Blantyre Police and Bvumbwe had their own cases against him. It’s unfortunate he committed suicide in the police cell when in our hands before he faced the law. A medical report has confirmed he committed suicide. The deceased was also a convict who once served a jail term at Chichiri Prison,” said Divala.
The deceased’s wife, as witnessed by Nation on Sunday, broke down upon receiving the news about his sudden death.
As she was being helped out of the police premises by her brotherin-law, Ganizani Lastone, the woman kept asking police what had happened to her husband.
She said on top of her voice that her husband was in sound health, drawing attention from passersby at Wenela Bus Depot.
Lastone explained to people around them: “We have just been informed that her husband, who is my brother, has committed suicide in the cell. Police arrested him last Tuesday, and we were told to come today to process his bail.”
He confirmed that, two years ago, his brother was convicted and did time at Chichiri Prison. At Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital (QECH) mortuary, the deceased’s family demanded a postmortem report, but after the postmortem was conducted, police did not release it to them, advising them to go to police after burial.
Police’s failure to release the report raised the family’s suspicion that something might have happened to the deceased, who was staying in Blantyre’s Ndirande Township.
Before leaving for home in Nsanje for burial, the family passed by Blantyre Police Station with the body where they wanted to demand the postmortem report, but police, according to Lastone, insisted they would get it after the burial.
“To us this did not make sense because we wanted to know, before burial, what led to his death. People at home are likely going to ask us about this. We are being treated unfairly here,” Lastone complained.
Divala later said the family has been advised to pay for the postmortem report at the hospital, and Lastone said on Friday, that the family was raising money for the report. According to police records, Singano, 27, came from Muwasa Village, Traditional Authority Mthiramanja in Mulanje.
The family asked Nation on Sunday not to publish pictures taken at the mortuary and Blantyre Police Station.
