Family questions police version of cell death

East London police have opened an inquest docket after a Duncan Village man was found hanged at the police holding cells last week.

The 26-year-old man, Peagane Somtsewu, was arrested on December 28 after he was accused of theft. East London police spokeswoman, Warrant Officer Hazel Mqala confirmed this, saying: “He was found dead after he allegedly hanged himself in the police holding cells at Duncan Village police station. He was alone inside the cell at the time.”

She said Somtsewu was locked in the cells at about 10am and was checked regularly. “As is the norm, every hour the cells are visited and at 12pm he was seen alive. During lunchtime, at 1pm, the police found him hanging in the cell. An inquest has been opened,” said Mqala.

But yesterday Somtsewu's family questions how he hanged himself inside the cell using a blanket. The family allege that they were denied entry to the cell to see how he had hanged himself. The family also questioned  how a postmortem was done without them knowing about his death.

Somtsewu's sister Nontlantla Jack said her brother died a mysterious death. “We were never told what exactly happened there. He died within three hours of him being put in that cell but the family was told a day later about his death. The postmortem was done without us knowing or seeing the body to be sure if he was not assaulted or not,” said