Body of man buried as pauper exhumed
"Seeing my brother's body being exhumed has been the most traumatic and painful experience. We thought this would give the family some closure but it has just gone from bad to worst. Someone must have answers as to why our family had to go through this."
ERNEDALE. – Jeanette Brown says she and the rest of her family thought that giving her brother Elwon Scharnick (30) a decent burial would remove the pain and anguish they suffered since he went missing in April 2017. This if after Scharnick was buried as a pauper after his body lay at a government mortuary in Sebokeng for about six months.
Brown says the family was alerted on December 19 that Scharnick’s body had been found and they could come and collect it at the Sebokeng mortuary. “To my surprise, when I got to the mortuary, I was told that my brother had already been buried as a pauper on October 10. I was further told that my brother had long been identified and that his file was sent to De-deur police station where we filed a missing person’s report. It looks like no one bothered to inform us.”
“Seeing my brother’s body being exhumed has been the most traumatic and painful experience. We thought this would give the family some closure but it has just gone from bad to worst. Someone must have answers as to why our family had to go through this.”
Speaking to Sowetan, Lieutenant-Colonel Lungelo Dlamini said Scharnick’s body was found in April in an open veld at Roshnee. “Police in De Deur registered a case of murder and the victim was unknown at that stage. During December police received forensic reports identifying the deceased.” He said no one had been arrested for the murder.
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