A FILABUSI man who was wanted for allegedly raping a juvenile from Skuta area and escaping twice from police custody reportedly turned into a baboon when he was arrested by members of the Neighbourhood Watch Committee.
The man has been on the run for the past two months. It is alleged that on 2 December he returned to the area pretending to have forgotten his ‘sins’. The fuming villagers reportedly teamed up and proceeded to his place baying for his blood.
A reliable source said: “When people arrived at his homestead, he locked up himself in one of the bedroom huts. Villagers wanted to teach him a lifetime lesson and set him as an example to other would-be rapists therefore they broke down the door to get him. Ndlovu, realising that villagers were baying for his blood, confessed his sins, asking for forgiveness and promised to hand himself over to the police.”
Some fuming villagers did not tolerate or listen to his pleas and started meting instant justice on him. Fortunately, members of the Neighbourhood Watch Committee came to his rescue and stopped the mob from taking the law into their own hands.
“When the villagers were busy beating up Ndlovu, police officers arrived and stopped them saying they were arresting him. The villagers tried to convince them that it was high time they disciplined the man since police had failed, but they took him away,” said the source.
On their way to Filabusi Police Station, it is alleged that the man turned into a baboon sending three Neighbourhood Watch Committee members scurrying for cover.
“You know the villagers were surprised to see the three policemen running as if someone was chasing after them. They even failed to stop and we followed them to their homesteads to ask what had happened on the way. What we heard was unbelievably, despite talking to them separately, their story was the same,” said the source.
One of the Neighbourhood Watch Committee members Nkosilathi Dube confirmed the incident saying: “I have never seen a person turning into a baboon but he did when we were taking him to the police station as he was being accused of rape. As we were walking, we realised that it was only the three of us and a baboon, that’s when we ran away without saying a word.”