Sumbawanga — THE mysterious woman believed to have died and buried five years ago before being seen alive last Wednesday has been admitted to Rukwa Regional hospital’s intensive care unit (ICU).
The hospital’s Medical Doctor in-charge, Dr Gasper Nduasinde, said that the decision to admit her to the ICU was not because she was seriously sick, but the move is meant to protect her from people flocking the health facility in large numbers; some of them were even peeping through the windows of ward number 8 where she had been earlier admitted.
According to Dr Nduasinde, the noisy and curious crowd was not only disturbing the medical staff at the hospital but also patients who were admitted at the regional health facility However, he noted that since she was taken to the hospital four days ago, preliminary medical observations show that the woman has shown symptoms related to mental illness.
The speechless woman was taken to the hospital on April 18, this year, for close medical observation and was formally admitted in Ward Number 8, but since then her relatives have never appeared to identify her and confirm whether the story was real or fictitious.
Dr Nduasinde further observed that though the woman is speechless, she chants religious songs and prayers throughout the night but remains quiet during the day. The strange happening spread on April 17, this year, during noon causing Sumbawanga town to stand still as people left whatever they were doing and rushed to Malangali area, particularly at Kilimahewa area to witness the spectacle.
Narrating the incident, Malangali B Local Government Chairman Jacob Simkonda said the speechless woman was taken to the Moravian Church at Kilimahewa in the neighborhood where pastors and church elders held special prayers for her.
According to Mr Simkonda, it was around noon when a middle-aged man, whose name could not immediately be established, saw the woman walking alone at Machinjioni area. He immediately recognised her as a relative who died and was buried five years ago at their Kasanga home village along the shores of Lake Tanganyika in the newly-proclaimed Kalambo District.
Horrified, the man, who avoided approaching the woman personally, raised alarm and people from the neighbourhood rushed to the scene where he told them the story. The frightened man then rushed to the bus terminal and proceeded to Kasanga Village to alert his relatives on his ghastly finding.
“After lengthy prayers amidst religious songs, the woman showed signs of gaining speech. It was at this point when a church elder enquired about her identity. The woman told them that her name was ‘Utukufu’ (glory).
At around 7pm, law-enforcers arrived at the church and after a brief consultation with church leaders, they took the woman to the police station while waiting for her relatives from Kasanga Village to come and identify her. Rukwa Regional Police Commander (RPC) Jacob Mwaruanda confirmed the incident.
However, a source from inside the police headquarters here insisted that the strange event was more of social happening which did not directly occupy them, but on that day of happening law enforcers were deployed to Moravian Church to guarantee her safety and thereafter they (law enforcers) handed her to Rukwa regional health facility for medical counselling and observations.
Tanzania Daily News (Dar es Salaam)
