UPDATE: NOVEMBER 24
FOLLOWING the beheading of Nawaaz Khan of Umzinto and Albertina Gambushe of Amandawe earlier this month, three men have been charged with Gambushe’s murder. The woman is believed to have worked as a domestic helper in the Gandhinagar Township in Umzinto.
“Thandowakhe Thando Duma and Mveliso Eric Ngini appeared in the Umzinto Magistrate’s Court yesterday (Monday) for bail application,” said Scottburgh SAPS communications officer, Captain Vincent Pandarum.
“The matter was postponed until tomorrow (Wednesday) in order for Elias Sihle Mchunu to join them in their bid for bail. All three have been charged with the woman’s murder.”
After appearing in the Umzinto Magistrate’s Court on November 9 for the murder of Nawaaz Khan, Mchunu and Duma abandoned their bail application.
“Khan’s murder case has been remanded until Monday, December 14 for further investigation,” said Cpt Pandarum.
UPDATE: NOVEMBER 13
A THIRD suspect was arrested in the Umzinto CBD yesterday (Thursday).
The man, a security guard thought to be in his late 30s, led Umzinto SAPS into bush opposite the Gandhinagar Township entrance where he pointed out the headless body of a woman.
When they questioned the man about the missing head, he led officers to another location in the vicinity where a plastic shopping bag containing decomposed crushed bones was recovered.
“The torso and the plastic bag containing what is believed to be the remains of the second victim’s head were removed to the Park Rynie State Mortuary. Forensic tests will be performed to determine if the bones in the bag are indeed those of the dead woman,” said Captain Vincent Pandarum, SAPS Scottburgh Communications Officer.
The suspect will remain in police custody, pending his first appearance in the Umzinto Magistrate’s Court on Monday, November 16.
Elias ‘Maak ‘n Plan’ Sihle Mchunu, who was arrested for the murder of Nawaaz Khan, appeared in the Umzinto Magistrate’s Court yesterday (Thursday). The case was postponed to Thursday, November 19.
UPDATE: NOVEMBER 11
THE head severed in an apparent ‘muti’ murder has been recovered.
Late yesterday afternoon, investigators were informed that the community of the Msholozi temporary housing settlement in Umzinto had surrounded a house the wanted suspect had visited.
A 31-year-old man was arrested and detained. Umzinto SAPS Detective Service Commander, Captain Siva ‘RP’ Pillay, the investigating officer, Detective Warrant Officer Steyn Moonsamy and a forensic expert, accompanied by other detectives, recovered the head, thought to be that of Nawaaz Khan (23), last night in a gumtree plantation in Ellingham, adjacent to the N2 freeway in Park Rynie.
The head, which was in an advanced state of decomposition, had been placed in several plastic shopping bags and buried. It has been removed to the Park Rynie State Mortuary where tissue samples will be obtained for forensic analysis to confirm that it is indeed that of Mr Khan.
The suspect, who lives in Malangeni, is due to appear in the Umzinto Magistrate’s Court later this week. Warrant Officer Steyn Moonsamy thanks the communities of Msholozi and Gandhinagar and members of the Umzinto Community Policing Forum (CPF) for their support and assistance in apprehending the suspects and solving this gruesome murder.
ORIGINAL STORY: NOVEMBER 10
AN Umzinto man (21) is in custody after confessing to chopping off his friend’s head and selling it for muti.
Police are now also hunting for a traditional healer whom they believe still has the head.
The man gave a full confession and appeared briefly in court yesterday. The case was postponed to November 19 for a bail hearing.
Nawaaz Khan (23) of Gandhinagar, Umzinto, went missing on October 31. He was last seen in the company of a close friend who broke down when questioned last weekend.
He led them to a forest in neighbouring Isonti where Khan’s headless body was found lying in the bushes. It is alleged that the man had consulted a traditional healer who requested a human head in order to resolve his problems.
Together, they then apparently lured Khan to Isonti where he was beheaded with a bushknife.
His cellphones, clothing and takkies were taken. Two other people, one from Msholozi Informal Settlement, in Umzinto, and the other from Dumisa, were taken in for questioning on Sunday night.
They allegedly bought the two cellphones.
KwaZulu-Natal Police Commissioner Lieutenant General Mmamonnye Ngobeni commended the police on the arrest. “We strongly believe that the arrest of the traditional healer is imminent. We urge members of the community not to follow instructions of such merciless traditional healers, but rather to report them to police,” she said.
