A new clue which gives evidence that the Dzimauli suspected ritual murder victim, Phophi Munyai (72), was indeed murdered, unfolded during the weekend. When family members were busy conducting a traditional ritual with her clothes after her funeral, they were surprised to discover a blanket with blood spots on it.

Phophi Munyai was found murdered at Dzimauli-Tshapasha on 25 March. Her burnt body was discovered in a small room. Family members are seriously convinced that she was a victim of ritual murder as they claim that some of her body parts were missing. Much to the surprise of the villagers, the room in which the deceased was discovered was not burnt, but only her body had caught fire. Police opened a murder case and one suspect is presently in custody.

“It is clear that my elder sister was murdered and brought to the small room where they set her body alight. This is purely an act of ritual murder because her body parts were tampered with,” said Elisa Ndou (57), the deceased’s younger sister.

The funeral was delayed for a month because villagers rejected the first autopsy conducted by the state pathologist in Polokwane, which indicated that the old lady had died of burns. They believe the autopsy was tampered with because it took less than 10 minutes and family members were denied entry into the post-mortem room. A full report on the second post-mortem conducted a fortnight ago by a private pathologist in Pretoria will be available shortly. The private pathologist also indicated that no initial post-mortem had been conducted on the body of the deceased. Eight villages in the Dzimauli area contributed R10 per household to cover the cost of the second post-mortem.

Elisa Ndou says the family discovered the bloodied blanket shortly after the deceased’s funeral. “We have been saying for a long time that Phophi was murdered. The blood on the blanked will obviously assist us in the investigations until all the culprits are arrested. As a family, we will never desist until the matter is finalized to our satisfaction. We will hand over the blanket to the Task Team appointed by the Department of Safety and Security,” she concluded.