He allegedly stabbed her several times with a knife. She begged for mercy, but her attacker continued until she fell down. Her whole body was covered in blood, while more blood oozed through her mouth and nose. According to an eyewitness, the man drank his victim’s blood before he fled the scene.

This is the painful story of the late Mboneni Munyamela (31) of Vhutalu village, who was killed by a robber at Thohoyandou last week. Mboneni had just closed the public phone container where she worked as a phone operator when a man grabbed her handbag, thinking that it contained cash. She tried to resist and that made the robber angry. He grabbed the bag forcefully, then produced a knife and allegedly stabbed her to death.

The 22-year-old man, Humbulani Headman Mudau, of Mulenzhe village, was thirsty for more blood and he also stabbed his former girlfriend, Beauty Luvhimbi (24) nine times with a knife. She is fighting for her life at Tshilidzini Hospital.

Police tracked him down and he was arrested on Thursday last week. He briefly appeared at the Thohoyandou Magistrate’s court on Monday, facing murder, attempted murder and two robbery charges. He was not given bail and his case was postponed to March 30, for further investigations.

Ms Esther Munyamela (42), the elder sister of the murdered woman, who also witnessed the brutal killing, explains the ordeal: "It was at about 18:00 when my younger sister closed the public phone business near the Thohoyandou KFC. Mobeneni was walking when a man appeared from nowhere and grabbed the handbag of my younger sister. There was no cash in the bag as she leaves the money in the public phone container for the owner to collect. She screamed, while calling my name and when I looked back, I saw the man stabbing her with a knife, showing with no mercy for my innocent sister. She fell to the ground and her body was covered with blood, while her attacker vanished into thin air. Some of the blood was oozing through her mouth and nose. Emergency staff could not save her life and she was declared dead at the scene. That horrific scene will never get out of my mind for the rest of my life. Can you imagine your next of kin dying such a brutal death in your presence? The murderer deserves to spend the rest of his life in jail, because what he did is inhuman."

Mirror spoke to the second victim, Beauty Luvhimbi, who survived stab wounds by the same man, Humbulani Headman Mudau. Speaking from her hospital bed at Tshilidzini Hospital, she explained what happened: "Humbulani Headman Mudau is my former boyfriend and he approached me near Thohoyandou Post Office last week Saturday. He wanted us to continue with the relationship, but I was no longer interested. I did not want to entertain him but he verbally abused me, saying I was making a fool of him. He the produced a knife and stabbed me nine times on my hands and back before he ran away. I fell down and my whole body was covered with blood. I cannot remember what happened next, until I found myself here in hospital."

After his case was postponed, the suspect, who did not show any sign of remorse, said to Mirror’s reporter: "You want to take my picture? I don’t have any problem. Just take as many as you want. A thi tshee na ndavha ngauri ndi do fela dzhele. (I don’t care because I will spend the rest of my life in jail).