A self-proclaimed prophet has been charged with murder and robbery after he allegedly killed a member of a Ntabazinduna family while attempting to perform a cleansing ceremony before escaping with a substantive amount of money.
Nelson Ngulube (32) of Gwanda who had been on the run since July was arrested on November 22.
Ngulube, who reportedly suffers from tuberculosis, was identified by a member from the deceased’s family who was admitted in the same ward with him at Thorngrove Hospital.
The State alleges that Ngulube told the Khabo family they were under attack from an avenging spirit and he gathered all the family members into their kitchen hut where he was set to perform an exorcism ritual.
While in the middle of conducting the ritual, Ngulube allegedly blew out a candle which was serving as a source of light and hit the daylights out of the family members-resulting in the death of Lister Khabo whom he stabled several times on the face.
The State further alleges that upon realising that he had murdered Lister, Ngulube fled from the kitchen, proceeded to the bedroom where he stole US$800 ZAR6500 and ZW$300.
Bulawayo magistrate Nomasiko Ndlovu remanded Ngulube to 12 December on his hospital bed where he is now under police guard.
Ngulube was not asked to plead to murder and robbery charges.
State representative Nkathazo Dlodlo stated that on July 4, 2019, and at around 7 pm Ngulube instructed everyone from the Khabo family to lie down facing upwards before commencing his rituals to exorcise them of what he termed an avenging spirit.
“At around 9 PM he blew out the candle which was serving as a source of light. He started to hit everyone in the hut with a knobkerrie under the pretext that he was assaulting the avenging spirit and, in the process, he stabbed Lister Khabo with a knife on the right cheek, forehead and above the right eye,” said Dlodlo.
“The following morning at around 5 AM, the family discovered that Lister had died due to the assault. Ngulube had already fled with US$800 ZAR6500 and ZW$300 he had stolen from the bedroom. He also left with a Samsung cellphone belonging to Lithembeni Khabo, which he claimed was being used for Satanism.”
