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A man in South Africa reportedly went to a police station last July 2017 while crying for help and carrying human body parts in a bag.
Police officer Constable Ryan Ntshalintshali, who works in the town of Estcourt in the southeast region of the country, testified that a traditional healer sought officers’ help for being forced to eat human flesh, reported South African newspaper The Times on Tuesday, Nov. 13.
The healer, Nino Mbatha, was arrested with three other men–Lungisani Magubane, Khayelihle Lamula and Sithembiso Sithole, all 32 years old–in August 2017. Sithole died in prison last July after he allegedly committed suicide.
The men are being charged for the July 2017 murder and dismemberment of a 24-year-old woman, Zanele Hlatswayo. Mbatha also has charges under the National Health Act for the possession of human body parts or tissues. The men pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Ntshalintshali admitted that he thought Mbatha was mentally unstable because he kept talking even when he asked him to be silent.
Mbatha reportedly claimed that he was being held captive in a house where he was forced to eat human flesh and create muti or traditional medicine to make money. However, he said he could not make the muti.
He also reportedly said that he was being forced to have sex with women but refused to because he had sexually transmitted infections, reported News24 on Wednesday, Nov. 14.
Ntshalintshali asked a colleague to accompany him in listening to Mbatha. The healer then took a hand out of the bag, which the officers thought was made of rubber. Mbatha proceeded to show them a foot with maggots and emitting stench.
At this point, Ntshalintshali called the station commander to come. He and other officers went with Mbatha, who showed them the one-bedroom house where he said he was trapped in.
When they entered the house, Mbatha brought out a dish with what appeared to be an ear and jaws. The healer also showed them a bucket with intestines.
The stench in the house was so overwhelming that the officers stepped outside.
The trial continues until mid-December. Niña V. Guno /ra
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