-no mortuary or refrigeration facility in village
The family of 25-year-old Marinda Ernest is being forced to wait until tomorrow for a post-mortem examination, while her body remains in the remote community of Philippai, Region Seven, where there is reportedly no proper mortuary or refrigeration facility to preserve it.
Ernest, a farmer of Philippai Village, was found dead and unclothed near a stream on Saturday morning, after she reportedly went missing while returning home from a self-help exercise with her 23-year-old reputed husband.
The delay has sparked concern among community leaders and Indigenous advocates, who are questioning how the body can be safely preserved until the arrival of a pathologist and whether critical forensic evidence could be compromised in the process.
Toshao of Philippai, Mark Joseph, said families are pleading for the body to be released, but he does not agree with keeping it in the community until tomorrow.
“As a leader, I don’t agree with that,” Joseph said, explaining that the community has no proper facility to preserve the body.
He said he was informed that the doctor’s flight had been changed to tomorrow, leaving the community with few options for properly preserving Ernest’s remains.
Indigenous rights advocate Laura George has also criticized the situation, questioning why arrangements were not made to transport Ernest’s body to a facility equipped to preserve it and facilitate forensic examinations.
“How do you keep a body? There’s no mortuary. There’s no ice there. There’s no freezing and stuff,” George said.
George said the circumstances have left her deeply disappointed and raised broader concerns about the handling of investigations involving Indigenous people.
The concerns come as questions are also being raised about the collection of potential evidence of sexual assault.
Joseph said he made inquiries about whether a rape kit could be conducted on Ernest, but was told that Police could not perform the examination and that samples would have to be collected by a doctor.
“So it seems like we are just wasting time,” Joseph said.
Police are investigating Ernest’s death as a suspected murder.
According to Police, Ernest and her reputed husband had been among approximately 40 villagers participating in a self-help exercise at a farm located about an hour’s walk from their residence.
The exercise ended at approximately 16:00 hrs on Friday, August 28, after which the couple reportedly headed home.
The reputed husband told Police that while travelling along the main trail, he briefly entered the bushes. When he returned, he allegedly could not locate Ernest.
He reportedly proceeded home but did not find her there, before returning to the trail and searching the area. It was during that search that he allegedly discovered Ernest’s unclothed and motionless body among bushes near a stream.
The matter was reported to Police at approximately 07:00 hrs on Saturday.
Investigators later visited the scene, where Ernest’s body was found beneath a shed and covered with a sheet.
Police said an examination revealed what appeared to be a puncture wound below the left breast, another puncture wound to the back, and abrasions to the back and left leg.
Her reputed husband remains in Police custody assisting with the investigation.
No determination has yet been made that Ernest was sexually assaulted, and the cause and manner of her death are expected to be established through the post-mortem and forensic examinations.
For the family and community, however, the immediate concern remains whether Ernest’s body can be properly preserved and whether the delay could affect evidence critical to determining what happened to her.
Investigations are ongoing.
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