Former Renamo deputy found dead, “with signs of torture”, in a forest in central Mozambique – Lusa

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Former Renamo deputy found dead, “with signs of torture”, in a forest in central Mozambique – Lusa

9:27 CAT | 28 Dec 2020

File photo: Social Media

Former Renamo deputy and provincial delegate in Manica Sofrimento Matequenha, who had been kidnapped on December 13, was found dead in a forest in the interior of Manica province, family sources told Lusa today.

The politician’s body was discovered by peasants, abandoned, with signs of torture, and covered with tree branches in a forest in Pindanganga, a village in the interior of Gondola (Manica), about 60 kilometres northeast of the place of his kidnapping, the victim’s son told Lusa on Sunday [December 27).

“After the kidnapping, we started searching and received information from some peasants on Saturday (December 26), reporting that an abandoned body had been found on Thursday (December 24), with swollen feet and signs of torture, and whose physical characteristics and clothing pointed to my father,” explained the politician’ son, Almirante Matequenha..

A daughter of the former deputy was later sent to the place with his photograph, to confront the information, having proved that it was the body of the former deputy, Almirante Matequenha told Lusa.

“When the peasants found the body, they looked for family members and, because they did not find anyone, buried the body in a traditional cemetery,” added Almirante Matequenha. The family is now fighting to recover the body and hold a dignified funeral, he said.

Lurdes Inácio, the politician’s wife, told Lusa yesterday that she did not expect to see “a person who served the country to suffer torture and be buried inhumanly”, without the presence of family members.

The area where the body of the politician was found has a strong presence of the Defence and Security Forces and the family is afraid to move to the place without a police escort.

Sofrimento Matequenha, a former deputy and provincial delegate of Renamo, the main opposition force, was kidnapped from his residence in the early evening of December 13, according to the complaint made by the family.

An armed group, dressed in police uniform, broke into the politician’s house in the Nhamaonha neighbourhood, in Chimoio city, the provincial capital of Manica, and took him in a black car with tinted windows, the politician’s wife said at the time.

The Police of the Republic of Mozambique said that it would issue statement to Monday.

Source: Lusa