RSS 2.0 FeedJanuary 2012 Volume 39
Zimbabwean woman' body found stuffed in a suitcase
A Zimbabwean woman of Malawian origin has been brutally murdered in Dublin, Ireland, and her body stuffed in a suitcase.
The Irish Times reported that the suitcase was found dumped near some rubbish bins where forensic officers spent yesterday carrying out fingertip searches. The 26 year-old woman has been identified as Rudo Mawere, who has been studying in Ireland for the past two years. Those who knew her said she had been going out with a Zimbabwean man.
As officers trace the young student’s family, it is not clear if she was a Zimbabwean with a Malawian passport or a Malawian with ties to Zimbabwe. Some Zimbabweans are known to have acquired Malawian passports to gain entry into the UK. Those who later claimed asylum found themselves having to be sent to Malawi when the applications were refused.
Rubbish was removed piece by piece from bins on St David’s Terrace, Blackhorse Avenue, on Dublin’s north side near the Phoenix Park. Police have also been trawling through CCTV footage from local shops in a bid to identify who may have been in the area on Saturday night.
They believe the woman had been strangled or suffocated and her remains taken to the spot where she was dumped beside some wheelie bins.
She had a plastic bag over her head and was fully clothed when found in the hold-all bag. The discovery was made early yesterday.
The deceased was wearing jeans, boots, a top and a jacket when found. Police believe she was killed on Saturday, her remains stuffed into the 2ft by 4ft bag.
Witnesses have told police they saw the bag as early as 7pm on Saturday but had no idea there was a body inside. The deceased was found at about 8.30am yesterday on St David’s Terrace when a passerby went to investigate the contents of the bag.
When it was opened, the woman’s body was clearly visible.A large crime scene was immediately sealed off, with traffic into the area blocked for most of yesterday.
The bag with the remains inside was left untouched until Deputy State Pathologist Dr Michael Curtis arrived to carry out a preliminary examination at the scene. When he had completed his examination, the bag with the body still inside was taken to Beaumont Hospital in north Dublin where it was X-rayed.
Police sources said this was done in order that the investigating team would have a clear record of the positioning of the body in the bag in the event this may somehow aid the investigation at a later date. Then the remains were taken to the State pathology facility in Marino.
A postmortem was carried out there by Dr Curtis yesterday afternoon. While the exact results of that examination had not been released last night, it concluded the woman was either strangled or suffocated.
The Africa Centre, a charity promoting social inclusion of African people in Ireland, condemned the "gruesome" killing of the woman.
"The death of this lady is shocking and dumping her in a suitcase is unimaginable," the centre's chief executive, Eric Yao, said.
Mr Yao appealed to anyone with information about the woman or the circumstances surrounding her death to contact the Africa Centre or police.
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