Is it another ritual murder? This question is on everyone’s lips in the Mutale area after the naked body of a headless man was retrieved from a pit toilet in a graveyard at Phalama village on Saturday night.

The body had been placed in a brown bag, whereas the head had been cut off and placed in a small plastic bag. There were gaping wounds to the left hand and spinal chord and villagers strongly believe that the man was murdered for muti because they claim that his private parts were cut off.

"This is pure ritual murder. When will this end? We are even afraid to walk in the night because the ritual murderers are thirsty for our blood," said a villager, who did not want to be named for fear of the muti murderers.

The chairperson of the Sanco Mutale sub-region, Mr Elekenyani Godfrey Netswera, who stays next to the graveyard, blew the whistle after being aware of a powerful, putrid smell for days.

He told Mirror: "It all started on Wednesday, but I took the bad smell lightly. The smell became stronger on Thursday and Friday. I could feel that it came from the pit toilet in the graveyard but I initially thought that someone might have killed a dog and dumped it there. The smell was unbearable on Saturday night and I decided to call the police. Police went inside the zink pit toilet and shone a torch inside. They then realised that there was a bag inside. They pulled the structure down and made the horror discovery. This means that the body was squeezed through the seat of the toilet until it rested on the ground."

Netswera said the horrible experience still haunted him and he could not sleep. "That was horrible and I believe the police will make sure that the culprits are brought to book."

Insp Daniel Netshitongwe of the Mutale police confirmed the incident. He said the man was approximately 45 years old and he could not be identified because his body was partly decomposed. Asked about the alleged missing private parts, Netshitongwe said he could not confirm or deny the allegations. "We have registered a case of murder and the public will be informed of the findings after we complete our investigations. We urge community members who might have information about the incident to contact us so that we may bring the culprits to book quickly. We also request families with missing persons to contact us as a matter of urgency."

* Mirror has also learnt that police are investigating a case of a missing person, following the disappearance of a man at the mountainous Sheshe village. The clothes of the missing man were later found at Phiphidi village, near Thohoyandou. It was not yet clear at the time of going to press whether the latest incident could be linked to the missing Sheshe man.

* More people are losing their lives to the practice of what is suspected to be ritual murder in the Mutale area, but no one has been arrested so far. Villagers want the following outstanding alleged ritual murder cases to be reviewed. They include that of Mbulaheni Bele of Vuvha village, Nambeni Netshisaulu (Thengwe), Samson Mukosi, Phanuel Makhado (Lukau), Edward Rambofheni (Lukau), Thidziambi Masevhe (Thengwe), Adziambei Mudzielwana, Wilson Ndou, Phillip Sigodi, Maria Maluta, a female only known as Nyamuneiwa of Thengwe and four children from Mafukani.

Meanwhile, the community of Makonde demanded that the case of the late Goya Rambofheni, who was found hanging from a tree in October 2001, at Makonde, should be reviewed and those who are suspected of murdering him for muti purposes be arrested and charged. They also demanded that the case of a young girl, Ndidzulafhi Rasalanavho, who was found hanging from a tree in 1997 should be reviewed and the people who were allegedly behind her suspected ritual murder be arrested and charged.