Police in Maryland County have charged, and sent to court a 27-year-old man for “selling human parts.”
Francis Sonpon, who lives in Boniken, Karluway district, was arrested on September 10 for “criminally and intentionally digging” the grave of a three-day-old boy who had just passed away in order to extract his body parts for sale.
According to the police, Sonpon, whose action contravened section 18.12 of the new penal code, was caught selling the parts of the deceased, who had been interred two days earlier.
“Francis Sonpon has been charged with corpse abuse in violation of the penal code,” the police said. “The act contravened section 18.12 of the New penal code of Liberia and this is what led to changes and his court prosecution.
“During the investigation, the suspect admitted to the allegation. The crime scene was visited, and it was established that the deceased body was no longer in the grave,” the police added.
According to the police, Sonpon was caught by Alex Bouty, who had intended to buy bush meat but later realized that it was human parts and then alerted the police.
Bouty noted that he came across Sonpon while en route to his farm on Sept. 10 and inquired about what was in the bag. He was told it was “bush meat for sale.”
He noted that Sonpon eventually opened the bag, but the appearance of the meat raised his curiosity, leading to more questioning.
“Sonpon during my questioning period told me that what he was carrying was not meat but rather human parts.
“He admitted that on September 8, he visited the burial site of a three-day-old baby and dug it out, which he divided into pieces and sold some to people, including the mother of the deceased,” Bouty said.
According to Bouty, Sonpon’s actions were not only alarming but also left many people in Boniken in tears and fear, as it was the first time such an incident had occurred. Source: liberianobserver
