News / Local
Human foot found dumped in Bulawayo
01 Feb 2012 at 08:16hrs | Views
RESIDENTS of Bulawayo's Ilanda suburb yesterday woke up to the grisly sight of a human foot dumped at a bush behind the United Bulawayo Hospitals' (UBH) Opportunistic Infections Clinic (OIC).
A couple waiting at a bus stop, at about 7am, reportedly discovered the foot, which was chopped off just above the ankle.
A witness at the scene said the unidentified couple were attracted by the smell of rotting flesh and when they turned they saw the foot, a few metres from the bus stop.
Stunned residents were still flocking to the spot to catch a glimpse of the chilling sight by 10 am yesterday when a Chronicle news crew visited the scene.
Residents and staff from UBH who had gathered at the scene at first speculated that the foot could have been amputated from a patient and somehow got misplaced before it could be incinerated.
A number of residents were convinced that the body part belonged to a murder victim.
"There is a mortuary at the hospital, so I think that the foot was cut off from a patient and it got lost when it was being taken to the incinerator," said a resident who identified himself as Mr Melvin Sibanda (37).
He said security measures at hospitals had become lax over the years and called on the Government to take stern measures to address the issue.
"Today it is a misplaced human foot, tomorrow it could be Satanists harvesting body parts for ritual purposes from the hospital," said Mr Sibanda.
However, a nurse at the hospital ruled out the possibility of the foot having come from UBH.
"It is impossible. The security checks on parts that are supposed to be incinerated are too stringent. Besides, if it came from a patient, it would have been smoothly cut off. As you can see, this looks like it was crudely removed from the body. An axe could have been used," said the nurse who declined to be named.
A comment could not be obtained from the UBH chief executive officer Mrs Nonhlanhla Ndlovu as she was said to be out of office. Her mobile number was unreachable.
The police spokesperson for Bulawayo, Inspector Mandlenkosi Moyo, confirmed the discovery of the human foot.
"Police are investigating a case in which a human foot was found near UBH yesterday," said Insp Moyo.
In August last year, a human leg that was discovered in Famona suburb led to the discovery of a gruesome murder, in which a man killed his wife and chopped her into pieces.
The man, Givemore Nyazvigo (30), of Number 82 Cecil Avenue, allegedly killed his wife, Ms Lydia Sibanda (25), following an argument over a telephone call. He dumped pieces from her body around the city.
Nyazvigo is still undergoing psychiatric checks to determine his fitness to stand trial, after he started hallucinating in court, saying he kept seeing his wife's ghost.
A couple waiting at a bus stop, at about 7am, reportedly discovered the foot, which was chopped off just above the ankle.
A witness at the scene said the unidentified couple were attracted by the smell of rotting flesh and when they turned they saw the foot, a few metres from the bus stop.
Stunned residents were still flocking to the spot to catch a glimpse of the chilling sight by 10 am yesterday when a Chronicle news crew visited the scene.
Residents and staff from UBH who had gathered at the scene at first speculated that the foot could have been amputated from a patient and somehow got misplaced before it could be incinerated.
A number of residents were convinced that the body part belonged to a murder victim.
"There is a mortuary at the hospital, so I think that the foot was cut off from a patient and it got lost when it was being taken to the incinerator," said a resident who identified himself as Mr Melvin Sibanda (37).
He said security measures at hospitals had become lax over the years and called on the Government to take stern measures to address the issue.
However, a nurse at the hospital ruled out the possibility of the foot having come from UBH.
"It is impossible. The security checks on parts that are supposed to be incinerated are too stringent. Besides, if it came from a patient, it would have been smoothly cut off. As you can see, this looks like it was crudely removed from the body. An axe could have been used," said the nurse who declined to be named.
A comment could not be obtained from the UBH chief executive officer Mrs Nonhlanhla Ndlovu as she was said to be out of office. Her mobile number was unreachable.
The police spokesperson for Bulawayo, Inspector Mandlenkosi Moyo, confirmed the discovery of the human foot.
"Police are investigating a case in which a human foot was found near UBH yesterday," said Insp Moyo.
In August last year, a human leg that was discovered in Famona suburb led to the discovery of a gruesome murder, in which a man killed his wife and chopped her into pieces.
The man, Givemore Nyazvigo (30), of Number 82 Cecil Avenue, allegedly killed his wife, Ms Lydia Sibanda (25), following an argument over a telephone call. He dumped pieces from her body around the city.
Nyazvigo is still undergoing psychiatric checks to determine his fitness to stand trial, after he started hallucinating in court, saying he kept seeing his wife's ghost.
Source - TC
