Brain, eyes, ears removed in gruesome city murder

IN a chilling incident, a man was attacked by yet to be identified assailants who cut open his head and removed the brain, gouged his eyes, slashed off his right ear and stabbed him all over the body before dumping his naked body near a house in Mzilikazi in Bulawayo.

The naked and heavily mutilated body of the man was discovered near Mashumba shops opposite Happy Valley Tavern yesterday morning.

A portion of the man's brain was found in a bushy area close to a stream and vegetable garden approximately 65 metres away from where the body was lying. It is also suspected that the assailants washed the body in a sewer stream near the scene before dumping the body near a house in the area. Police also identified three bloodied stones which are believed to have been used to crush the man's head.

ZRP National police spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi said police were investigating a case of murder.

"The body seems to have been dragged and dumped away from the murder scene. The deceased is yet to be identified and the motive is not yet known. There are no suspects at the moment," said Asst Comm Nyathi.

When Sunday News arrived at the scene at around 8am yesterday, the body had not yet been removed with hundreds of people milling around. There were signs of struggle and blood in the area close to where some body parts were found while the corpse did not have any traces of blood and it is suspected the murderers could have washed the body in a nearby stream before dumping it.

Miss Fatima Tembo, who stays at the house where the body was dumped, said she was alerted by neighbours at around 6am that there was someone lying naked outside her yard.

"I was told there is someone lying naked outside and when we investigated, we saw that he was dead and I went to report to the police. I did not hear any noise during the night or any struggle. Our neighbours, however, told us they heard their dog barking at around 2am but they did not bother waking up to go and find out what was happening as they thought it could be barking at people passing by from a nearby drinking spot," she said.

Her neighbour, Miss Jeanna Mpofu said she was alerted by a passerby that someone was sleeping naked as she was fetching water from the tap. She also said she did not hear any movements during the night.

"We were shocked to realise that his head had been severed and later realised that his brain was found in the bush along with what is suspected to be his eyes and clothes in a black plastic bag. He could have been bathed at that stream where there is a lot of blood around the area," said Mpofu.

A police officer said the man is likely to have been assaulted, with three bloodied stones being the weapons and had his scalp missing. The source said there was blood all over the garden area where the brain was found.

"He had three stab wounds on the face while his right ear was cut into two pieces, his eyes were not visible and his scalp was missing.

"He also had injuries all over the body. He was naked and his clothes are yet to be found. He did not have any form of identification on him, so we don't know who he is," said the police officer.