BY LORETTA BRIGIDIA MANELE
POLICE Commissioner Mathew Varley strongly appeals to Solomon Islanders to understand that during death investigations, police have the important role of conducting medical and post-mortem examinations.
He expressed this during last week’s police press conference at Rove Police Headquarters.
Varley said that in recent times, they have encountered a number of cases where they found it difficult explaining to family members through customary issues why they need to conduct medical examinations and post-mortem examinations on their deceased relatives.
He stated that this is a real challenge because they also understand that in many customs, families want to bring their loved ones back to the village for burial.
However, Varley stressed that it is essential that people understand that the police have an important role to play in carrying out investigations which include post-mortem examinations of the deceased so that they can give the best evidence to the Coroner’s court at a later date.
“So we are always negotiating with families to ask them to understand those reasons,” he said.
Varley appeals to the people across the country for awareness and understanding that when police investigation into a death is necessary, it is an important part of the investigation that post-mortem inquiries are conducted and carried out.
“That’s something that I’ve seen as a challenge in recent months and is something that I am appealing to the community for their support on,” he said.
