Two arrested over theft of dead bodies from Mbarara hospital

Police in Mbrara District in western Uganda are holding two men on allegations of stealing dead bodies from Mbarara Regional Referral Hospital (MRRH). 

The MRRH spokesperson, Mr Halson Kagure, said on Thursday that although it’s a standard procedure that if someone dies at the facility the body is first taken for postmortem, the suspects and their accomplices have allegedly been stealing bodies and handing them over to relatives at a fee without autopsy reports.  

 “If someone dies from here he or she must be taken to the mortuary for autopsy first. However, we got information that there were some people who lose their relatives here and these gentlemen come and take away the bodies minus them (bodies) being taken to the mortuary first,”he said.
According to him, the suspects confessed having been planted at the health facility by funeral service companies in the city to steal bodies and connect relatives to funeral service companies for a commission.

“They have confessed that their bosses are the ones who deploy them here and that after taking these bodies, they are given a commission of Shs200, 000 for each body. They convince the relatives of the deceased that the hospital charges exorbitant fees for postmortem and mortuary services which is not the case because these services are free of charge,” Mr Kagure said.
Rwizi regional police spokesperson, ASP Samson Kasasira said the suspects currently detained at Mbarara Central police are employees of two funeral service homes in Mbarara City.

He said the two suspects could be part of a bigger racket that has been behind theft of dead bodies from the regional referral hospital and other government health facilities.
They will be arraigned in court on charges of trespass once investigations are complete, according to police.