THE post-mortem report of Peter Abrahams, the South African journalist and author who made Jamaica his home in the 1950s, has prompted the police to open a murder investigation into his death.

The police said in a news release yesterday that the pathologist concluded that the injuries that led to the 97-year-old’s death were “deliberately inflicted”.

Abrahams, who is better known for his hard-hitting commentaries on Radio Jamaica, was found dead at his home in Red Hills, St Andrew, on January 18, 2017.

According to Encyclopedia Britannica, Abrahams, born March 19, 1919 near Johannesburg, was the most prolific of South Africa’s black prose writers, whose early novel Mine Boy (1946) was the first to depict the dehumanising effect of racism upon South African blacks.

The publication said Abrahams left South Africa at the age of 20, settling first in Britain and then in Jamaica; nevertheless, most of his novels and short stories are based on his early life in South Africa.

“In the late 1950s, inspired by a visit to Jamaica, Abrahams moved his family to the island. There he became editor of the

West Indian Economist and took charge of the daily radio news network, West Indian News, until 1964, when he gave up most of his duties so that he could devote himself full-time to writing. Many of his earlier works were reissued or translated into other languages in the 1960s and early 1970s, as his reading public steadily widened,” statesEncyclopedia Britannica.

Yesterday, the police issued an appeal to anyone who may have information that can assist their investigation to contact the St Andrew North Police Station at 924-1435, police 119 emergency number, Crime Stop at 311, or use the Stay Alert App.