Former Zimbabwe president Robert Mugabe feared his body would be exhumed for body parts hence was buried in a tamper-proof casket.
Mugabe was buried at his home village on Saturday in a steel lined coffin under a layer of concrete. The coffin was different from the one which was used to take his body from Singapore to Zimbabwe.
Mugabe’s nephew and family spokesperson, Leo Mugabe, said the change was due to security reasons.
“Originally, why we changed is because we wanted a tamper-proof casket because you know, with rituals and things like that, people are really after his body, body parts, so we wanted something that was tamper-proof. That is why the casket was changed in the first place,” Leo told a Zimbabwean Television.
He added that it was Mugabe’s idea in the first place.
“He said to his wife … ‘If and when I’m gone, don’t leave my body. Be careful, people want to use my body.’ It was him who said it to the former first lady.
“We knew that spiritually he probably knows something,” said Leo.
The family kept the body at home the night before he was buried in keeping with his wishes.
Family members threw white roses into the grave as the coffin, draped in navy blue velvet, was lowered to its final resting place in the courtyard of his rural home, about 90 Kilometres from Harare.
Mugabe died of cancer aged 95.
