Funeral parlour shocked by mutilated corpses
Doves Funeral Parlour has come under the spotlight since reporting an incident of genital mutilation of two corpses at their Greyville branch last week.
THE discovery of the mutilation of two female corpses at a Greyville funeral parlour last week has created a storm of public outrage and left the company discouraged by the media scrutiny is has had to endure since reporting the crime.
The bodies of the two Durban women, aged 69 and 96 which had had the genitals removed , were cremated last Thursday. Their identities have been kept private in respect to them and their families.
According to Minki Ngcobo, CEO of Doves Funeral Parlour, the grim discovery was made last Monday. “Our staff made this horrifying discovery on Monday morning before doing the cremations. As a company, we could have swept it under the carpet but we wanted to take a stance against this type of crime and reported the matter to the police so they can investigate it and get to the bottom of this crime. The concerned families are extremely upset and its understandable, they had their loved ones in our care and we have apologised to the families for what has happened,” she said.
Ngcobo said it was “disappointing and discouraging” that after reporting the crime, the company seemed to come under fire. “Most companies won’t want to report such crimes if they think about the negative affect it will have on the company.
“We had good systems and protocols in place which made this easy to discover. Nobody wants to perpetuate crime and we don’t want anything to do with those responsible for this. They belong in jail. We feel persecuted by the media for reporting the crime,” she said.
Despite the negative publicity, Ngcobo said she would report any crime in the facility. “We want to reassure our clients that we have good systems and processes in place to discover any breaches in our facilities. Our offices are open to any persons with concerns to come through and talk to us.”
Six employees have been suspended and subjected to polygraph tests while Durban Central police investigate cases of violation of the corpses. Ngcobo said additional polygraph tests were conducted with more staff on Tuesday and the company would be taking steps to improve security in the branch. “The whole incident shows that there is a market for body parts and our employees are exposed to that market. We have never experienced something like this before and are hoping that the six employees will co-operate fully with police so that we can put this regrettable incident to rest,” she said.
