BULAWAYO has recorded yet another gruesome murder after two decomposing bodies of a man and woman were found dumped in a drainage channel with their throats slit and hands tied on their backs in Nkulumane 12 yesterday.
NDUDUZO TSHUMA STAFF REPORTER
In a double murder that sent shockwaves in Nkulumane, which has of late been rocked by a spate of muggings, the woman was naked while the man was fully dressed in green denim and blue jeans up to his knees and a navy blue sweater.
The bodies were found in a drainage channel at a T-junction close to the Methodist Church of Zimbabwe in Nkulumane 12. The man’s body was infested with maggots on the throat where he had been slit as well as in the eyes that were bulging while the tongue was sticking out.
The woman’s hands were tied behind her back while her blouse and bra were found on the forearms.
The bodies emitted a foul smell indicating the advanced state of decomposition and their faces were heavily swollen making it hard to identify the people. The stench increased when the bodies were removed from the drain channel into the police’s metallic coffins with green flies swarming the corpses.
The police also found a pair of white tennis shoes and another pair of black ones as well as a navy blue Adidas cap. There were also dry blood patches and human excrement next to the bodies indicating that the two could have been slaughtered at the spot they were discovered.
There grass in the drainage channel on the side of the road to where the bodies were, was flattened.
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Police initially cordoned off the area as forensic experts and detectives from the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) Homicide Section went about with their crime scene investigations.
The crime scene was also attended by the officer commanding Nkulumane District Chief Superintendent Mthokozisi Manzini and Superintendent Desmond Dube as well as the CID homicide officer-in-charge.
The police then allowed hundreds of residents who had gathered around the scene to look at the bodies in an attempt to identify the victims.
Residents were advised to pay particular attention to the clothing since the bodies had been deformed by decomposition. People made a bee line as they took a close view of the bodies, but no one could identify the pair.
A resident who was among the first on the scene said the bodies were placed on top of each other in the drain channel.
“When I got here, there were a few police details and I asked to see. The body of the man was down facing upwards while that of the woman was on top facing the side. Their skin had turned green,” said the resident.
Another resident said the bodies were discovered by cleaners from the Bulawayo City Council (BCC) who were operating close to the scene.
“Yesterday a woman who was boarding a kombi said there was a foul smell at the corner. We understand the police came and did not find anything. However, today, women from BCC who go around picking papers stumbled on the bodies,” the resident said. “The police were called in. The problem with this drainage channel as you can see is that there is tall grass on either side and inside making it hard for passersby to easily spot anything.”
Residents could be heard murmuring about muggings that have been taking place in the area.
“First it was the murder that occurred close to Mandwandwe High School now this.
“Just the other day a man and his son were stabbed in this very neighbourhood,” said a resident.
Bulawayo provincial police spokesperson Inspector Mandlenkosi Moyo said he was still compiling information on the discovery of the bodies.
