Family Of Woman Allegedly Murdered Rejects Autopsy Report

The family of Chinyere Awuda, the young lady found dead in an abandoned swimming pool at a hotel in Anambra State on July 17, has rejected the Anambra State police command’s autopsy report, which states she drowned.

Recall that on Friday, July 28, the state police command, DSP Ikenga Tochukwu, claimed in a statement that the postmortem on Ms Awuda showed she drowned, contradicting reports that she was battered to death by some pleasure seekers at the hotel. Some eyewitnesses said that Ms Awuda was beaten to death by some fun seekers at the hotel who suspected her of taking some money sprayed on someone who was celebrating his/her birthday within the hotel grounds shortly after her body was discovered.

However, a police official stated that the doctor who performed the autopsy on Ms Awuda’s body found no trauma marks.

In response to the police statement, the family, through their lawyer, Eziafa Enwedo, requested that the hotel’s CCTV footage be released, stating that it showed a male adult chasing the deceased towards the pool area.

Read Also: Family Of Woman Beaten To Death In Hotel Writes Petition

The Family, while rejecting the autopsy findings, argued that their daughter was murdered, saying that the circumstances surrounding her death must be uncovered and that “justice must be served.”

“We acknowledge the autopsy report of the police regarding the alleged murder of Miss Chinyere Awuda, whose corpse was found inside the abandoned swimming pool of Cosmila Hotels and Suites, Awka. We are relieved that the police have finally launched their investigation into Awuda’s death and what caused her untimely death, which we continue to believe was a premeditated murder.” the lawyer said.

He stated that the police were obliged to do the investigation and that the autopsy report did not answer the charges of her alleged murder, and that the family was willing to pursue the matter further.

“We want the Nigeria Police Force, Awka Division, to release the real CCTV footage they have that show a male adult suspected of being one of the culprits chasing Miss Chinyere Awuda into the abandoned swimming pool area. CCTV footage showed her being beaten, which the suspect admitted to in their statements. The video showed her running and being chased by a number of people. It also indicated that she did not rush into the pool enclosure alone; a male adult followed her inside the enclosure and reappeared minutes later without her. While we accept the autopsy result that she drowned, it’s still possible that she was beaten into an unconscious state and was allowed to drown by the male adult who pursued her into the pool enclosure, as revealed by the authentic CCTV footage in the possession of the police.”

According to the family’s lawyer, the autopsy report revealed that the deceased had injuries to her left hand and that the public should be intrigued as to what caused the injuries. The family wanted the hotel to make public the size of the pool, the volume of water in it, and if it was sufficient to drown a conscious person, stressing that the report did not exonerate the suspects of suspected assault and murder.

“The authentic CCTV footage with the police, which they have refused to make public, contained scenes where the deceased was being pummeled and pursued into the pool enclosure. We will want to know the identities of the adult who pursued her into the abandoned swimming pool area but didn’t raise the alarm that she fell into the pool as being alleged. It’s still plausible that she was deliberately thrown inside the abandoned pool by the adult while unconscious having been beaten by multiple people already. The police must not rush to close the case based on the claims that she drowned. The original CCTV footage and autopsy results must be made public and the circumstances surrounding her being pursued into the pool enclosure must be determined. This is a call for justice for the living and the preservation of the sanctity of life. Death shouldn’t just be explained away,” he said.