News / National
Teenager stumbles on missing man's rotting head
08 Apr 2016 at 01:50hrs | Views
THE decapitated head of a man from Masvingo, who went missing last week, has been found near his garden. Lameck Mazodze, 62, of Mazodze Village under Chief Shumba, went missing on Saturday last week.
On Tuesday, a boy from the same village, Josiah Mudzivo, 15, got a whiff of a pungent smell leading to the discovery of the head about 500 metres from the garden.
Police are still searching for the rest of his body. Family members yesterday dismissed a suggestion that Mazodze could have been attacked by wild animals and claimed he could have been murdered.
"His underwear, one of his shoes and a cellphone were found in the garden just beside a stump he was uprooting," said a villager. Acting Masvingo police spokesperson Assistant Inspector Kudakwashe Dhewa said police were investigating the incident.
"I can confirm receiving a sudden death report of a man who went missing on March 26, only for his head to be found near his garden. We're still investigating what could have killed the man," said Asst Insp Dehwa.
Family members said they last saw Mazodze alive when he left home on March 26 saying he was going to work in his garden, less than a kilometre from his homestead.
Mazodze's wife, Esnath Chadya, said the family was not bothered when her husband failed to return home as he had earlier told her that he wanted to do a piece job at Nemamwa Growth Point, about 10 kilometres away.
"We continued with our chores as usual. My husband sometimes spends weeks working at Nemamwa," said Chadya. She said Mudzivo informed the family that there was a bad smell coming from their garden. "We became worried and when we couldn't reach my husband, we called the police," Chadya said.
She said an initial search led them to her husband's shoe, underwear and cellphone. His daughter, Precious, 30, insisted her father was murdered. "I don't believe that my father could have been attacked by wild animals as alleged by other villagers.
"Even if some villagers suspect he could have been attacked by hyenas, I know it's not true. There has never been a case of a person getting killed by wild animals in this village," said Precious.
She said if a wild animal had attacked her father, the family would have heard the noise because the garden was a stone's throw away from the homestead. Precious said the family would have closure only if the rest of her father's remains were found.
On Tuesday, a boy from the same village, Josiah Mudzivo, 15, got a whiff of a pungent smell leading to the discovery of the head about 500 metres from the garden.
Police are still searching for the rest of his body. Family members yesterday dismissed a suggestion that Mazodze could have been attacked by wild animals and claimed he could have been murdered.
"His underwear, one of his shoes and a cellphone were found in the garden just beside a stump he was uprooting," said a villager. Acting Masvingo police spokesperson Assistant Inspector Kudakwashe Dhewa said police were investigating the incident.
"I can confirm receiving a sudden death report of a man who went missing on March 26, only for his head to be found near his garden. We're still investigating what could have killed the man," said Asst Insp Dehwa.
Family members said they last saw Mazodze alive when he left home on March 26 saying he was going to work in his garden, less than a kilometre from his homestead.
Mazodze's wife, Esnath Chadya, said the family was not bothered when her husband failed to return home as he had earlier told her that he wanted to do a piece job at Nemamwa Growth Point, about 10 kilometres away.
"We continued with our chores as usual. My husband sometimes spends weeks working at Nemamwa," said Chadya. She said Mudzivo informed the family that there was a bad smell coming from their garden. "We became worried and when we couldn't reach my husband, we called the police," Chadya said.
She said an initial search led them to her husband's shoe, underwear and cellphone. His daughter, Precious, 30, insisted her father was murdered. "I don't believe that my father could have been attacked by wild animals as alleged by other villagers.
"Even if some villagers suspect he could have been attacked by hyenas, I know it's not true. There has never been a case of a person getting killed by wild animals in this village," said Precious.
She said if a wild animal had attacked her father, the family would have heard the noise because the garden was a stone's throw away from the homestead. Precious said the family would have closure only if the rest of her father's remains were found.
Source - chronicle
