AN unidentified woman was yesterday found dead in Iminyela suburb with her decomposing, half naked body covered with grass.
The woman was found in the bushy area separating Iminyela and Pelandaba suburbs, behind Induba Primary School, a stone’s throw from Pelandaba Clinic.
Mrs Mulebuho Ndlovu (78) from Iminyela suburb stumbled on the body of the woman who is suspected to have been murdered while she was harvesting sweet potatoes in her field.
Police have launched investigations although they could not provide information on the matter yesterday.
Mrs Ndlovu said she caught the whiff of a stench and thought there was a dead cat or dog.
“I never suspected it could have been a dead person,” she said.
“I drew closer and was shocked to discover what appeared to be a woman.”
Police carry the woman’s body
The granny said she quickly called other women who were working in a nearby vegetable garden.
“I was too scared to get closer alone. The women rushed to the scene and confirmed there was a dead woman covered with grass,” said Mrs Ndlovu.
She said the gory news quickly spread in the suburb and within minutes scores of people had gathered to get a glimpse of the body and try to figure out what could have happened.
A Chronicle news crew observed shocked residents from Iminyela and Pelandaba suburbs who braved the stench as they watched the police conduct investigations.
The police barred residents from getting close to the body as investigations to establish how the woman died had just started.
Members of the public therefore had to watch from a distance as police put the body in a black body bag.
Mrs Ndlovu who was at a house about 100 metres from the scene said the incident traumatised her and she could not return to her sweet potato field.
Residents crowd the murder scene of a young woman whose body was dumped on an open space in Pelandaba,Bulawayo yesterday.
“That’s a painful incident. How can a human being be dumped like a dog or cat? I don’t believe it was mistake that I decided to go and harvest my sweet potatoes today. Maybe it was God sending me to discover the body. She deserves to be properly buried,” said Mrs Ndlovu.
Residents who saw the woman before the arrival of the police said she was wearing a white mini-skirt and black jeggings, which were partially removed leaving her lower body exposed.
They said the dead woman was clutching a small black purse.
“She can’t be from around here because if she was someone could have identified her. For some of us who are parents to girls, to see a young woman killed like that is very worrying,” said Mr Jabulani Tshuma.
On April 24, 2014, Nkulumane residents woke up to the horrific murder of Mthabisi Dube and his girlfriend, Lokukhanya Ncube.
Their bodies were discovered in a grass-filled drain at the corner of Intemba and Rangemore Roads in Nkulumane 12.
The couple was allegedly killed by Birthwell Sibanda of Old Pumula, Webster Ndlovu, of Mabusela Flats and Thabani Lunga, of Mpopoma.
The trio was arrested in 2015 following a series of murders in the city.
They are awaiting commencement of trial at the Bulawayo High Court.-chronicle
