Sleep is one thing that the inhabitants of Zingqolweni deserted many months in the past.
Tucked in a distant nook of South Africa, this frightened village of three,000 folks has suffered a homicide nearly each month, occurring with clockwork regularity for a yr.
The brutal sequence of killings has earned Zingqolweni a chilling moniker: "The Village of Loss of life."
All 11 victims have been aged folks, most of whom have been girls and most of whom lived alone.
They've been stabbed to demise of their houses after dusk, when pitch darkness falls over a village the place the unpaved roads are unlit.
Nobongile Fihla, 50, spoke to AFP as she walked again from the cemetery.
Her mom was among the many first victims, killed in Could 2021.
"I discovered my mom there, subsequent to the door, mendacity in a pool of blood. Her throat was slit," Fihla informed AFP.
Her aunt was then discovered stabbed to demise in the identical thatched spherical hut the place the 2 sisters lived.
Nobody noticed or heard something.
The houses, referred to as rondavels, are far aside from one another in Zingqolweni, a Xhosa-speaking group mendacity three hours from the closest massive metropolis of East London.
Right here the solar units behind the inexperienced mountains of the Jap Cape province by 6pm (1600 GMT) within the winter months.
"Not seen earlier than in South Africa"
South Africa is likely one of the world's most violent nations exterior a warfare zone, with a homicide dedicated each 20 minutes on common. The nation's homicide price elevated by 8.9% within the final three months of 2021 in comparison with the identical interval the earlier yr, the Mail & Guardian reported, citing latest crime statistics.
In accordance with the South African Police Service, there have been 5,760 murders from April-June, in comparison with 3,466 throughout the identical interval the earlier yr.
However even hardened police have been greatly surprised by the gruesomeness of this killing spree.
All of the victims have been brutally stabbed. Some additionally had their throats slit.
"They actually bleed to demise," a senior police investigator informed AFP.
"A sequence of murders of aged folks with a psychological motive. No, not seen earlier than in South Africa," mentioned the investigator, who requested to not be named.
Six males have been arrested over the killings, and their trial is ready to start in June.
Native police consider the murders are merely burglaries which have gone unsuitable.
However native official Gcinikaya Koki, 64, is amongst those that doubt that thieves are accountable.
"After the killings, when folks have been looking out the home they discovered the cash in the home," he mentioned, including that different valuables have been additionally untouched.
"Now, you then ask your self, 'What's it that they need from this individual that they killed?'"
The one clue ever discovered has been a bit of clothes.
Fears of a serial killer on the free have swept the village. Some have fled and ladies have began sleeping collectively at evening.
A particular police unit that investigates serial crimes has visited the world a number of instances.
The murders, the investigator informed AFP, share hallmarks that match the narrative of a lone killer.
In every killing, there's a single modus operandi; the murders happen usually at the beginning of every month; and there's no proof of a prison motive.
The assassin have to be younger and robust sufficient to overpower his victims, in keeping with this situation. And given the remoteness of the village, he in all probability lives close by, and probably harbors a hatred of the aged.
"The particular person should have identified the folks dwelling there and who was dwelling alone," the investigator mentioned.
Husking maize on a stool in entrance of her dwelling, 82-year-old Nontukunina Mbenyana says she is afraid however she won't go away.
"If they arrive for me, I'm ready," she mentioned. "I'll die in my very own home."
Authorities had for months saved silent on the killings, so vigilantes stepped in.
Seven suspects, all males aged 21 to 27, have been discovered useless. Some have been burned alive, others hanged within the close by forests.
Twelve males have been arrested, however then launched for lack of proof.
So the investigation continues, amid a code of silence within the village.
"Nothing occurred right here," a person climbing into his pickup informed AFP.
Currently, the grisly crimes have halted, deepening the thriller.
Elevated police patrols and media consideration could have deterred the murders "for some time," the investigator mentioned.
"We typically see that serial murderers who start to be uncovered transfer away. We'd come throughout him once more someplace else..."