A GWANDA man accused of stealing eleven herd of cattle has developed a mystery ailment in a bizarre incident that has stunned the local community.

The Bulawayo Chronicle reports that 41-year-old Mlaki Ncube of Ngoma Village in the Chief Marupi area is admitted at the Gwanda Hospital where he was found writhing in pain with a swelling stomach.

Police and members of the public told the newspaper that they had heard a bellowing sound coming from the man’s stomach.

“We actually heard a bellowing sound like that of a cow while he was admitted to Manama Hospital, which is why hospital authorities decided to transfer him to Gwanda,” one witness is quoted as saying.

Villagers tipped-off the police that Ncube, long suspected to be a cattle rustler, was admitted to Manama Hospital, resulting in his arrest last Saturday.

Meanwhile, narrating his ordeal from his hospital bed, Ncube admitted to stealing the cattle adding he believes the owners had bewitched him.

He said he is also suffering from abdominal pains and has, over the past four days, been failing to relieve himself.

“I can’t go to the toilet to relieve myself and my stomach is continuously rumbling. I am in terrible pain and I believe these are acts of witchcraft for the offences that I committed,” said Ncube.

He said he has been pleading with the police to be released from hospital so he could “seek herbal treatment” at his rural home.

“The police should at least give me five days so that I can go to my home and get an inyanga because doctors have failed to detect anything yet I am in continuous pain,” said Ncube. “This is getting worse and I am really in terrible pain.”

Ncube was arrested together with a local senior village head and his son during an anti-stock theft operation which was carried out in the area.