A war-like situation prevailed at Mavambe and Dovheni villages in Vhembe, after the body of a 46-year-old mother of six was found with several parts missing, suggesting the possibility of her having been killed for muti.

Ms Grace Chauke disappeared last Friday, when she went to the neighbouring bushes to relieve herself. When she never came back, her children thought she was possibly helping a family in the neighbourhood with organising a funeral. It was after the funeral that they suspected something sinister and a manhunt ensued.

After her body was found at a nearby mielie field with parts missing, community members at Mavambe searched from house to house and ultimately found some blood stains at the home of a suspect at Dovheni.

Police struggled to contain the rowdy crowd and had difficulty to disperse the mass. The crowd then dared the police to leave the homestead, so that they could deal with the suspected killer. However, the police maintained a heavy presence and sometimes had to ward off angry residents who were advancing on the homestead, urging the police to speed up the investigation at the scene and also to arrest the alleged perpetrators.

A police sniffer dog was called to the scene, but the search yielded no positive results.

Grace Baloyi, who is the daughter of the deceased, said: “We were surprised to learn that she was not at the funeral on Saturday. Word spread about her being missing and that was when everybody became serious about the issue.“

She said they were surprised to learn that the body was found at the spot where they had searched before. “We searched this area, but nothing was found, which means she was killed somewhere else and was dumped here, with the killer knowing fully that people would come to search again,“ she said.

She said the family was greatly saddened by the death as the deceased was leaving behind young children who still needed her care. “We are short of words to express our sadness. She has left a void that will be hard to fill. We have lost someone who cared for and loved us all,” she said.

Ward 13 Thulamela councilor Virginia Mtileni said the community had had enough of unresolved crimes perpetrated against women. “Enough is enough! Government should see to it that all crimes against women are punished by the harshest punishment. We are tired of seeing our women-folk facing gross abuse and killings,” she said.

The chairperson of Munna Ndi Nnyi Mens Forum, Mr Bardwell Mufunwaini, said men took a pledge before the premier last year to act against ritual murderers. “As an organization, we have taken a stand to fight ritual murder on all fronts. We are going all out to assist the police in solving this heinous crime,” he said.

On Tuesday, the community marched to the Malamulele police station, demanding that the police apprehend the killers. An ugly scene was averted after police refused the marchers permission to come near the police station. Only a delegation of seven representatives was allowed to get inside the station to present a memorandum.

The local traditional leader, Chief Patrick Mavambe, said he was discouraged by the attitude of the police, who refused to come and address the community after being asked to do so. “My people were not fighting and I could not see the reason why the police could not come and answer the community’s concerns. They are supposed to serve our people and not to shy away from their responsibility,” he said.