HARARE – A 19-year-old man has been apprehended in Harare’s bustling Central Business District (CBD) after allegedly attempting to sell a human foetus, deceptively claiming it was beef. The incident has sparked outrage and raised serious concerns about the state of morality in the capital.
In a statement released on their X (formerly Twitter) handle, the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) confirmed the arrest of Stelly Marecha, stating that he is now facing charges of violating a corpse.
“Police in Harare arrested Stelly Marecha (19) in connection with a case of violating a corpse,” the police statement read. “The suspect allegedly picked a human foetus, which was wrapped in a black plastic bag in a bin at the corner of Mbuya Nehanda and Albion Streets, Harare CBD. He attempted to sell the remains to a 27-year-old man, claiming that it was beef.”
The police are now appealing to members of the public to come forward with any information that may assist in identifying and apprehending the individual responsible for disposing of the foetus in the first place. This incident has raised questions about the circumstances surrounding the foetus’s disposal and the potential involvement of other individuals.
Meanwhile, in a chillingly similar case from Russia, a convicted cannibal managed to escape the death penalty after being found guilty of murdering people and selling their flesh as exotic game meat. Vladimir Nikolayev, known as the ‘Novocheboksarsk Cannibal’ or ‘The Ogre’, was initially sentenced to death in 1997 for two murders, but the ruling was overturned when Russia abolished capital punishment in 1999.
Nikolayev’s gruesome crimes came to light when customers who had purchased what they believed to be rare delicacies became suspicious and reported the meat to the police. A doctor’s examination revealed the horrifying truth: the meat contained human blood.
Nikolayev, who had a lengthy criminal record, confessed to murder shortly after his arrest. A search of his apartment uncovered human remains and a heavily bloodstained bathtub.
Nikolayev claimed his first murder happened “accidentally” during a fist fight with a drinking partner. Initially, he thought he had only knocked the man unconscious and attempted to revive him. However, when he realised the man was dead, he decided to dismember the body in his bathtub to cover up the crime.
According to his own account, while dismembering the body, Nikolayev removed a portion of flesh from his victim’s thigh, which he roasted. He then decided to distribute some of the body to acquaintances and even sold eleven pounds of flesh as exotic animal meat at an open market, which ultimately led to his downfall.
Shockingly, Nikolayev also served some of the human meat to a family, telling them it was kangaroo meat. In an interview, Nikolayev said with a twisted grin: “Well, I said it was kangaroo but we don’t have kangaroos around here. They didn’t know what it was.”
Nikolayev used the proceeds of his crimes to fund his drinking. After his death sentence was overturned, he was transferred to the notorious IK-6 Black Dolphin Prison in 2001, considered one of the harshest penal establishments in the world. He has stated that while he is generally against the idea of the death penalty, he would prefer it for himself rather than continuing to live in prison for the rest of his life.
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