Police in Bulawayo are investigating the murder of a 25-year-old woman whose decomposing body was found stuffed in a 200-litre container in her bedroom at a house in Fortunes Gate suburb.
The woman who was identified as Thabelo Mazolo was employed by Lecbiotec as a receptionist.
She was last seen on May 29 at around 11 am on her way to the city centre.
On June 1, she sent a text message to the caretaker of the house informing him that she was going out of town and will return on Sunday, June 7.
When she did not return, the caretaker informed the owner of the house who is based in Harare, as the deceased`s mobile phone was not reachable.
The gruesome murder was only discovered on Wednesday morning when the caretaker was switching off the lights in the house when he was attracted by a foul smell coming from the deceased`s bedroom and immediately informed the police.
Bulawayo Police spokesperson Inspector Abednico Ncube said the incident was being treated as murder and an investigation has started
“On 10 June 2020 at around 0700hrs, as the informant was switching off the lights of the corridor, there was a stinking smell coming from the direction of the deceased’s bedroom. He went to ZRP Hillside to make a report.
The police attended the scene and a duplicate key was used to open the deceased’s bedroom. When the bedroom was opened, the body of the deceased was found inside a blue 200 litre drum in the bathroom in a decomposed state. The body was conveyed to United Bulawayo Hospitals for post mortem,” said Insp Ncube.
Inspector Ncube said the police had launched a manhunt for the suspects and appealed “for information that can assist in the investigation of the case and lead to the arrest of the perpetrator of this gruesome crime.”
If there’s a stinking smell, why would you first contact the police instead of checking the room as the caretaker. That’s very odd! This caretaker probably sent that text message on the 1st of June. Caretaker seems like the murderer. Police need to find out the whereabouts of the caretaker on Friday as well as where the text message was sent from.