Missing Body Found With Tongue & Ear Removed
The body of a man from Tsholotsho in Matabeleland North province was found floating in a dam with a deep cut on the chest and some body parts missing after he had disappeared for three days, in what his family suspects was a ritual murd€r.
The body of Xolani Ngwenya was found with the tongue and one of the ears reportedly missing.
The discovery led to the arrest of John Dube (43) from Lukukwe Line, Innocent Mando (32) from Hlalanikuhle Line, Immanuel Dube (48) of Efusini and Blessing Dube (34) from Magwadeni Line in Tsholotsho area.
Ngwenya was buried amid dramatic scenes.
Burial proceedings were temporarily halted after family members demanded the missing body parts, saying they could not bury an “incomplete body”.
The family was reportedly insisting they needed to know where the parts had gone and who had removed them. There was suspicion the body parts were taken for ritual purposes.
Meanwhile, the four suspects have since appeared before a Tsholotsho resident magistrate, charged with murd€r as defined in Section 47 of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act Chapter 9:23.
They were not asked to plead and were remanded in custody to May 15. The four were advised to apply for bail at the High Court.
Allegations against them are that, on March 19 and around 9pm, Innocent, Immanuel and Blessing went to one of the bottle stores at the Tsholotsho Business Centre, where they picked up one of their accomplices, John, and the now deceased.
They then reportedly proceeded to Zikhululeni Dam, claiming they were going for fishing.
It is alleged the four eventually ki!!ed Ngwenya and threw his body in the dam for a yet to be established reason.
They then took his clothes from the car and left them on the edge of the dam, before they went to their respective homes.
Ngwenya’s body was found on March 22 by one of the villagers; it was floating in Zikhululeni Dam.
The villager notified the police, who then retrieved the body from the dam before they took it for post-mortem.
The body had a stab wound on the chest and its mouth was swollen.
Investigations led to the arrest of the four suspects and their subsequent appearance in court.
–Sunday Mail–
