Only three weeks after his burial, Modike Philemon Masedi's corpse was stolen from his grave. His family made this shocking discovery when they visited the grave on Sunday to clean it in preparation for his tombstone unveiling.

FAMILY IN DISBELIEF 

Masedi died on 15 January, buried a week later. When his family visited the grave on 5 February, his grave was wide open, and his body was missing. Limpopo police spokesperson Brigadier Motlafela Mojapelo said that they were called by a family member who told them that they came to clean the grave but found it dug. "The police went to the scene and were met by an unusual site of a grave that was dug out, but the coffin was still there, unfortunately without the corpse inside," said Mojapelo. 

FORCED ENTRY

Mojapelo said the investigations in the matter revealed that the unknown suspects accessed the graveyard by cutting the side fence. "They then dug a hole next to the grave, accessed the coffin and stole the corpse. Cases of violation of grave and theft were opened. We don't know what the motive behind this could be." Mojapelo added.

RESPECT THE DEAD

Limpopo police commissionaire Lieutenant General Thembi Hadebe has expressed shock at what happened at the said graveyard and has ordered that the perpetrators be hunted down and brought to book. "We call on community members in the area to respect the unfolding investigations conducted by the police and desist from pointing fingers as these often play into instigators of vigilantism in which people take the law into their own hands," said Hadebe.