Coffin in which body was deposited before burial
The family of 17-year-old Emmanuel Dorli who was struck by lightning in Ho on Monday, May 30, 2022, has finally been interred after conclusive spiritual consultations.
The body was buried at about 11pm on Wednesday, June 1, 2022 at the Sokode Bagble Cemetery in the Ho Municipality of the Volta Region of Ghana.
Thus, about three days after the incident happened.
This became possible after a second round of spiritual consultations gave the final approval after the required rituals needed to be done to ensure that the deceased gets a peaceful rest while the family and community does not suffer any repercussions was done.
The Lightning Strike
The late Emmanuel, a second-year student of Sokode Senior High Technical School (SOSTECH) met his untimely death when he was struck by lightning while in the company of two female friends.
Although all three fell to the ground under the Mango tree where they stood, the two female friends survived and were conveyed to the Ho Municipal Hospital by the National Ambulance Service. They have since been treated and discharged.
Body Abandoned
Interestingly, the motionless body of Emmanuel was left under the Mango tree located along the Accra-Ho road.
The location is also directly opposite the Volta Regional Office of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG).
The body was abandoned on the back of a superstitious belief that the lightning might have been orchestrated by a deity as punishment for some wrongdoing by the victim or his family. Despite enough scientific proof that such deaths were as a result of natural occurrences, considering that trees could serve as a conduit to channel lightning currents, residents, the family and even state agencies like the Police and Ambulance Service believed Emmanuel’s death could be spiritual.
Senior Member of the Family, Nicholas Nfodjo – Middle. He is flanked by other members of the family
Hence, the body was untouched and unmoved until Tuesday, May 31, 2022; 24 hours after he was struck.
The family moved the body after a preliminary report from emissaries it sent on a spiritual consultation expedition.
Body Moved
A spiritualist performed some rituals to cleanse the body and the earth where the incident occurred before Emmanuel’s body was put in a coffin and sent to his mother’s village, Sokode Bagble.
While everyone assumed the body was going to be interred immediately, the family had other obstacles.
The Chiefs and Elders of the community found the report of the spiritual consultation made by the family head, Samuel Frank Nfodjo and grandfather of the victim, Daniel Kwao to be inconclusive.
To this end, the emissaries were sent on another spiritual consultation expedition and they returned late in the evening on Wednesday, June 1, 2022 to provide a more conclusive report.
Final Rituals For Burial
A senior member of the family, Nicholas Nfodjo in an interview explained that the body was not buried on Tuesday because there were some outstanding rituals and consultations to be done. Following the feedback from the second spiritual consultation, Emmanuel was exonerated of any wrongdoing that may have warranted the lightning strike and his eventual death.
Although he refused to give details of the final report, he hinted that the incident was found to be linked to some other issue that the family is taking care of.
He revealed that to complete the final rituals, some herbs provided by the spiritualists consulted were used as directed. A sheep was also slaughtered to further clean the body and pacify the land before the internment of Emmanuel Dorli at the Sokode Bagble Cemetery at about 11 pm on Wednesday.
From Fred Duodu, Ho ([email protected])
