Man demands woman’s body parts for ritual, stabs her
By Nozipho Ncube
A BULAWAYO man was dragged to court for allegedly stabbing a woman, demanding her blood and some of her body parts for ritual purposes.
Meluleko Ngwenya (36) is said to have come across Lorraine Ngwenya (39) of Cement Siding in Bulawayo in the early hours of 6 February when she had just dropped off a bus from Harare.
As Lorraine was heading to her house, Meluleko came from behind riding a bicycle, passed and went ahead of her. He later re-appeared and ran towards her.
Meluleko is said to have stopped the woman and said “ngifuna igazi lakho lama phisinyana emzimbeni unginike for a sacrifice”.
Meaning: “I need your blood and body parts for a sacrifice.”
He also tried to take a bag that Lorraine was holding but she resisted. Upon realising that Lorraine was strong, he allegedly began to fight her and stabbed her with a knife once on the chest and he escaped.
Lorraine managed to gather strength and walked home to narrate the ordeal to her husband who called an ambulance and reported the issue to the police.
A few days later, a patrol and raids team conducted a search in Cement Siding, Montgomery, Cold Storage compound and Fairbridge among other nearby areas looking for a tall, dark man with short dreadlocks.
Eight people were interviewed and among those was Meluleko.
An identification parade was carried out and Lorraine picked him out leading to his arrest.
He has since appeared before Bulawayo magistrate Joseph Mabeza on a charge of attempted murder.
In his defence, Meluleko told the court that he had never seen Lorraine before.
“Your worship, I don’t admit to the charges levelled against me because around 4 am on that day I was at home with my wife and child,” he said.
“When the police conducted interviews they were looking for a man with a golden tooth and a broken one but my teeth are intact and I have never had a golden tooth,” he added.
Lorraine told the man that the police had to misrepresent the description so as to lure the culprit.
“The police knew that if they had given the exact description I had given it would disturb the search so that’s why they said you have a golden tooth,” said Lorraine.
Meluleko was remanded out of custody to 6 June. B Metro
