The family of a 34-year-old who died at Dagombaline in alleged police brutality has called on the Interior Minister to constitute an independent committee to investigate circumstances leading to the death of the young man.
The family insists the Interior Minister’s recent pronouncement on the incident was never a true reflection of the matter since an autopsy report has established the cause of death.
The Minister while briefing Parliament on the matter alluded to a police report which states that the deceased hit himself against a wall during the arrest by police officers who swooped the area.
But a family’s spokesperson Abdul-Aziz Yahaya insists that the Minister’s claims are not true.
“The family had heard whatever the Interior Minister said and we do not fault him. He was supposed to speak on the matter and he has done it. But whatever the case, his pronouncement on the matter should have brought relief to the bereaved relatives but his comments have angered the family.
“He based his comments on the report the police provided to him. But the stance of the family is that there are many eyewitnesses who can testify that the deceased was brutalized by the police officers leading to his death.
“There is also an autopsy report that confirms and corroborates what the eyewitnesses are saying. We expected the Interior Minister to do his own investigation before making such comments.
“Even an animal will not be said to die like what the Minister was claiming in the case of the deceased. The family is not happy with what the minister has said and we want him to come again in his comments.”
