Muti killers to spend life behind bars

THE Pietermaritzburg High Court sentenced two men to life imprisonment yesterday for beheading people and using their body parts for medicine, the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) said.

Spokesperson Natasha Kara said Thandowakhe Duma, 22, and Elias Sihle Mchunu, 42, were sentenced on charges of murder, robbery and kidnapping in the October 2015 incidents. “The accused wanted human body parts for medicine and therefore conspired to kill people. Armed with a bush knife, the accused accosted Bawinile Albertina Gambushe, 39, in the uMzinto area,” Kara said.

“She was assaulted with the bush knife and died. The accused stole her cellphone and left, only to return a few days later to sever her head and remove parts of her body.”

Kara said Dane Ramparthab, from the Gandhinagar area, was picking mangoes when the men attacked him.

Duma and Mchunu struck him with the bush knife. They tied his hands and led him to a secluded area. He eventually escaped. “Nawaaz Khan lived in the same area and was known to the accused.

He went with the accused to a bushy area. The accused turned on him, assaulting him,” Kara said.

Khan, 23, died as a result of a sharp wound to the neck,” Kara said. “The accused then severed his head and removed some body parts for medicine. They also stole two cellphones.”

Kara said in aggravation of sentence, senior State advocate Dorian Paver told the court that the crimes were “callous and devious”.