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Fungai Lupande

Mash Central Bureau

Regis Ruza (19) who was described by members of his community in section 7, Trojan Mine as a “cool child” turned into a monster on Wednesday at around 2pm and fatally attacked his mother on the head with an iron bar.

He started acting weird in the morning and waited for the stove repair man to leave the house before gruesomely murdering his mother. 

As the mother, Dorcas Chigudhu’s (55) body, lay motionless on the veranda floor bleeding from the ears, Regis laid on top of her and started sucking the oozing blood. 

His face had taken a strange form with saliva drooling from his mouth.

He looked possessed, said Ms Agness Dzidzi who rushed to the house after hearing faint screams calling out her name. 

Ms Dzidzi stood midway the staircase to the cabin house in shock, witnessing the strange event.

Narrating the gruesome scene Ms Dzidzi said she stood there face to face with Regis who was wielding an iron bar. 

“I asked what had gotten into him and he did not respond. I know this boy as a “cool child” who didn’t have bad friends and spent most of his time at their house,” she said. 

With no shoes and her grandchild strapped on her back Ms Dzidzi rushed to a roadblock along Trojan Road, a kilometre away from the scene to alert police officers. 

She managed to come back with one officer who fled the scene after Regis charged towards him. 

More police officers came and a warning shot was fired in the air before Regis could be apprehended. 

“It was too late for Madzimai Dorcas and her last words to me were, ‘Amai Anna I am gone you no longer have a friend’,” she said. 

“I could not respond or cry. The situation was too much to apprehend. I went outside and asked one of the police officers how the situation was and he gave me a sign that nothing could be done. 

“A doctor came later and I asked again but he could not respond and I could see that he was on the verge of tears.” 

Madzimai Dorcas was described as a quiet woman and a member of the Johane Masowe eNguwo Chena. 

“She was bleeding from the ears and her son lay on top of her and started sucking the blood. We were shocked,” she said. 

“He later used a kitchen knife to end his mother’s life before cutting pieces of flesh and eating them. Some of the meat was placed in a pot.” 

He severed his wrist with the knife and bled excessively. 

It is said that he was manifesting saying he acted in connivance with one Brighton and Musa. 

He also said that others ate his mother’s head and intestines while he drank blood. Ms Dzidzi said Regis was always with his parents and they never witnessed him doing drugs or consuming alcohol.

The sister is also exhibiting signs of being possessed. 

Mr Bernard Chaima who was called to repair a stove said he arrived at around 9am and saw that the boy was acting strange. 

“I asked the mother what was wrong with the boy and she said that she was waiting for the father to come back so that they could visit prophets,” he said.

“I left Regis eating food and I went away to look for tools. This is when he attacked his mother. He had too much power and people were failing to restrain him.

“I accompanied him to Bindura hospital because he had severed major blood vessels on the right wrist.

“The hospital had no tranquillising drugs and it was later provided by Bindura Prison.” 

Mr Chaima said the wounds were dressed and Regis was sent to the police cell where he collapsed at around 8pm and died. 

Provincial police spokesperson Inspector Milton Mundembe said they suspect that Regis was under the influence of drugs. 

Insp Mundembe said Chigudhu was at home with her teenage son and two grandchildren aged 8 and 5 years. 

“She served the accused and the two minors with food in the dining room when Regis picked a knife and attempted to stab her,” said Insp Mundembe. “A scuffle ensued and the two minors ran away calling for help.” 

Honest Mujati rushed to the scene and saw Dorcas and her son wrestling on the veranda. 

When police arrived at the scene Regis had locked himself in a toilet behind the house while making roaring noises. 

Police officers who examined Dorcas’s body observed that she had a stab wound behind the left thigh. 

The body was bleeding from the nose and mouth. 

A bloodstained knife was recovered between her legs while a bloodstained pan was next to her head. 

Insp Mundembe said Regis was tranquillised and was detained in a police cell after his right hand wrist was treated. 

At around 8pm he was found unconscious in his cell and was rushed to Bindura Hospital where he died upon arrival. Insp Mundembe called on communities to work together with the police in ending drug abuse.