Chronicle Editor
Bongani Ndlovu, Chronicle Writer
POLICE have arrested a 20-year-old man in connection with the gruesome killing of eight homeless people in Bulawayo and Harare, whom he disembowelled using broken beer bottles before eating their body parts.
Thandolwenkosi Ndlovu (20), alias Sauro, has been described as a modern-day “Jack the Ripper” and “Jeffrey Dahmer” rolled into one.
In a murderous spree spanning at least three years, in Zimbabwe’s biggest cities, police said Ndlovu would crush the heads of his victims with stones before cutting them up and eating them.
Social media on Monday was awash with reports that three disemboweled bodies of homeless people were discovered in Harare. The gruesome murders shocked many, but police have said there is no link to rituals in the killings.
In a statement yesterday, national police spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi said Ndlovu has been arrested in connection with five cases of murder that occurred in Harare Central Business District between 28th August 2023 and 4th September 2023.
He said Ndlovu, who is believed to be living on the streets would target “street kids” who would be fast asleep and crush their heads before opening the victims’ stomachs using broken bottles to remove body parts as well as genitals. The cannibalistic Ndlovu, Assistant Commissioner Nyathi said, would then boil or braai the human parts on any open fireplace and consume them while in the Harare City Centre.
He said Ndlovu is linked to three murders in Bulawayo that occurred in 2020, where he crushed the heads of people in Makokoba, Bellevue and Nkulumane Sekusile Shopping Centre.
“The suspect has been linked to three murder cases committed in Bulawayo in 2020 where he crushed a victim’s head in Bellevue suburb using a brick after he found him drunk and asleep in his yard, in January 2020.
“In December 2020, he crushed a victim’s head in Makokoba Suburb after finding him asleep by the roadside. He again crushed another victim’s head using stones at Sekusile Shopping Centre, Nkulumane after finding him sleeping on a pavement. He then fled to Harare,” said Assistant Commissioner Nyathi.
He said Ndlovu is also linked to an attempted murder case in Harare.
“The suspect is also facing a charge of attempted murder and has a warrant of arrest for a robbery case that occurred in Milton Park, Harare in June 2021.
“The Zimbabwe Republic Police has not found any evidence to link the recent murder cases committed by the suspect to ritual killings,” said Assistant Commissioner Nyathi.
He said police on Monday tracked Ndlovu after he tried to attack a street kid in Harare.
“On 4th September 2023, police detectives tracked the suspect along Rotten Row Road, Harare after he allegedly tried to attack a “street kid” who did not bother to make a police report.
“On being arrested, the suspect was positively linked to five murder cases (all in Harare), which occurred on 28 August 2023 at the corner of George Silundika Avenue and Simon Muzenda Street, 1 September 2023 at the corner of Inez Terrace Road and Robert Mugabe Road, 3 September 2023 at the corner of Nelson Mandela Avenue and 7th Street and on 4 September 2023 at the corner of Cripps Road and Remembrance Road,” said Assistant Commissioner Nyathi.
Ndlovu has since appeared in court in Harare.
Online Reporter