Missing man found dead in Mendi

 By PETER ESOP WARI

A MAN from Merep Village, in the Nipa-Kutubu electorate of Southern Highlands, who went missing from his bed at the Mendi General Hospital a few weeks ago, has been found dead in a village outside Mendi Town.

The deceased, identified as Pumas Pinjip, in his late 50s, was a village chief who went missing on June 12 

after being admitted to the hospital. 

Em Hep, a public servant from Nipa, said the five men who had been watching over Pinjip had gone to the market to look for food and after returning, found that his bed was empty.

They asked patients who were nearby if anyone had seen him but got negative responses.

Hep said nurses wanting to give his daily medication saw no sign of the deceased as well and were waiting for the watchmen to arrive before starting a search.

“A search was conducted and all relatives living at Mendi town were asked if they had seen the deceased but they had no idea where he was,” he said.

 “He was found dead on the border of Longo and Kiburu villages, a few kilometres outside Mendi town, by a woman and her dog who were going to the garden in the early hours of the morning,” he said.

Hep said the woman then alerted the relatives of the deceased who quickly retrieved the body.

He said the body was taken to Nipa and he was buried at his village last week.

Hep said no post mortem examination had been done to identify the cause of Pinjip’s sudden death.