Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA) tests results have confirmed that the remains which were recently found in Manicaland belonged to Livingstone Sunhwa, who was a Form Four student at St Matthias Tsonzo High School in Mutasa.
The tests were conducted by the African Institute of
Biomedical Science and Technology (AiBST) which released the results to the
police on Wednesday.
Sources close to the investigations said the remains have
since been taken to Parirenyatwa Hospital where a proper post-mortem would be
conducted before a burial order is issued.
The development comes after last month, pain and
uncertainty had continued to haunt Livingstone Sunhwa’s family after results
from the eagerly awaited Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA) tests on his presumed
remains came back inconclusive.
As a result, additional tests were then conducted to
establish whether the remains are Livingstone’s or not.
Livingstone, who was a Form Four student at St Matthias
Tsonzo High School in Mutasa, disappeared from the institution on December 6.
Prior to his disappearance, Livingstone had been arrested
on theft charges.
He was, however, allegedly released as he was due to sit
for his English final exam paper.
Unfortunately, he never showed up for the examination and
had been missing ever since then.
On June 20, the Criminal Investigation Department, which is
in charge of investigations, discovered Livingstone’s presumed remains a
stone’s throw away from St Matthias Tsonzo High School.
Blood samples were collected from his mother, Ms Selina
Tadya and sister Pride Sunhwa, together with part of the skeletal remains, for
DNA testing.
DNA testing was said to have been inconclusive when it
fails to produce information that allows an individual to be either included or
excluded as the source of the biological evidence.
Normally, three types of results can occur in DNA testing –
inclusion, exclusion, and inconclusive results.
Authorities revealed that results should have been released
within 21 days, but the process dragged on for more than two months due to the
putrefaction of the collected samples.
Putrefaction refers to the destruction of soft tissues that
takes place shortly after death and is due to the action of micro-organisms on
the body.
research shows that human decomposition begins just a few
minutes after death via a process of self-digestion known as autolysis, with
temperature, humidity, rain and the sun, among other factors, playing an
important role in the process.
Therefore, investigators were forced to collect bone
samples for DNA testing as the soft tissues like skin, muscles, nervous tissues
and hair had decomposed and had been washed away.
Bones, including teeth, have a rigid structure that
protects DNA from degradation or slows down the process by enclosing it in hard
and protective materials.
However, the investigators have since learnt that the
collected samples had been compromised by extensive exposure to the sun, the
rain and the wind.
Discovery of the remains led to the suspension of St
Matthias Tsonzo High School headmaster, Mr Maxwell Sambona, to pave the way for
investigations
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