The Sunday Mail
Bulawayo Bureau
A 38-year-old Hwange man allegedly murdered his 62-year-old uncle, dismembered his body, cooked and ate the remains before he was discovered hanging other parts on a tree to dry.
The incident happened in Dinde, Hwange district, police in Matabeleland North have confirmed.
Mat North police spokesperson Inspector Glory Banda said the accused, Wished Mumpande of Chigona village, Chief Nekatambe, Hwange has since been arrested and appeared in court charged with murder.
The victim was his uncle Fida Stephen Mumpande (62) of Bhale village, Chief Nekatambe.
Insp Banda said after allegedly committing the offence, the accused was found in the Gandwe Hills with a pot of cooked meat, by a search team looking for Fida who had left his homestead three days earlier to prepare his fields.
The search team, comprising the deceased’s son Given Mumpande, Maboli Sibanda and Albert Munkuli had followed Fida’s shoeprints.
On discovering the pot with cooked meat on top of the hill, the trio became suspicious, leading them to probe further. They then discovered scattered body parts close to the pot.
“Realising that his father had not returned, his son Given teamed up with Sibanda and Munkuli and decided to look for him. On July 20, they found his remains in the Gandwe Hills with some having been cooked by the accused,” said Insp Banda.
He said the trio discovered pieces of the deceased’s right arm placed on a tree branch. A further search led to recovery of the deceased’s left arm, backbone, legs and the head, which was cut into pieces.
The men discovered a thigh cut into pieces that hanged loosely on a tree branch.
Insp Banda said the accused, armed with an axe, emerged from the bush and was apprehended by the trio who recovered the axe and pot.
Detectives from the Criminal Investigation Department’s Homicide Division, Hwange and Kamativi police officers attended the scene and arrested the accused.
