The alleged ritual murder case at Dzimauli took another turn, when family members and villagers rejected the outcome of the post mortem conducted on the body of the late Phophi Munyai (72) by the state pathologist. The alleged ritual murder victim’s burnt body was discovered in a small room at Tshibvumo village last week.

At a community mass meeting held on Sunday, angry villagers vowed that Ms Munyai would not be buried until they were satisfied that all the people who murdered her had been brought to book. As a result, eight villages in the Dzimauli area will contribute R10 per household to hire a private pathologist to conduct another post mortem.

Villagers strongly believe that Ms Munyai was murdered for muti as they claim that both her left hand and leg were missing when she was discovered. Ms Elisa Ndou, a family member, said she was seriously convinced that Phophi had been murdered for muti. “I saw her body at the mortuary and some of her body parts were missing.”

Ndou said the post mortem results from the state pathologist indicated that Phophi had died of fire burns. “How can they say she died of fire burns whereas some of her parts are missing? We will never rest until the truth of the matter comes out.”

Ndou is one of the family members who went to Polokwane to witness the autopsy by the state pathologist last week. She said she was disappointed by the way it was conducted as family members were refused entry during the proceedings. “Only the investigating officer and the pathologist entered the post-mortem room and all six the family members were refused entry. How could they conduct the autopsy on our relative while we were not allowed to witness the proceedings? We wanted to see the post-mortem in progress, but our plea fell on deaf ears. That was when I realised that something was wrong and I seriously believe that the results of the autopsy were tampered with.”

Ndou further claims that the whole proceeding of the post mortem took approximately five minutes. “I have never heard of any post mortem as short as that one in history. As a family, we will never allow anyone to distract us from what we know about this ritual murder.”

Ndou further claimed that she received information from a reliable source that Phophi was taken to the local Tshaala River where her body parts were removed while she was still alive. “The information says that her body was covered with a blanket and brought back to the small room where her remains were set alight.”

Dean Alunamutwe Rannditsheni of the South African Council of Churches (SACC) says clergy men, family members and the local community will work hand in hand until the matter is resolved. “As clergymen, we also reject the results of the state pathologist without compromise. We will help all the relevant stakeholders to have another post-mortem by a private pathologist. I personally inspected the body and saw that a leg and hand were missing.”

Accompanied by family members, Mirror visited the small room where Phophi’s burnt body had been discovered. The smell of death continued to depress us as we enter ‘the room of death’. Debris from plastic and some belongings of the deceased bore testimony to the gruesome incident. An old door, which family members believe was used to carry the body of the deceased when it was brought to the small room, was lying on the floor.

Police registered a case of murder last week and a suspect, aged between 25 and 40, was arrested.