Friday 20 April 2012

The breast-sucking turtle

The urban myth surrounding a breast-sucking turtle allegedly forced onto young women by an unknown man has once again resurfaced after a Tsumeb resident and alleged victim, Lina Sames, related her ordeal on the NBC Damara/Nama radio service this week. Sames featured on Monday on the weekly radio programme ‘Crime and Society’, presented by Johannes Mushindi, alleging that she was forced by a middle-aged Indian man to breastfeed a small turtle that grew bigger with every suck.

During the interview conducted by Mushindi and Sergeant Siegfried Geiseb of the Windhoek City Police, Sames narrated how she hitched a lift from Tsumeb on 11 April with the alleged perpetrator to visit a friend in Otavi, 60 kilometers away. After the visit to Otavi, the two reportedly returned to Tsumeb together, agreeing to meet the following day at a popular hotel. On 12 April, Sames and her new acquaintance purportedly drove towards Grootfontein before coming to a halt half-way between the two towns.

Sames, a domestic worker, related how the mysterious man suddenly produced a live turtle, no bigger than the average grown up’s hand and pressed the reptile against the victim’s right breast. “It proceeded to suck, while at the same time growing bigger. I was then forced to drink blood from the turtle,” a traumatized Sames said.

According to Inspector Kauna Shikwambi of the Police Public Relations division, Sames was in a state of shock upon admission to the Oshakati State Hospital and was unable to give a coherent statement to the police. “I was informed that she was so hysterical that she even left her medication upon her release on 16 April,” says Shikwambi.

Inspector Mathee of the Tsumeb police station also acknowledged the incident and confirmed to Informanté that a case was opened, but declined to provide the case number without permission from the Oshikoto Regional Crime Coordinator, Deputy Commissioner Naomi Katjiua. The Commissioner however denied any knowledge of the strange incident.

A neighbour and friend of Sames, known only as Marianne, also confirmed to this reporter the factuality of the reported incident. Sames, who has no mobile and was reported to have been at work at the time of enquiry, could not be reached for comment. The folklore surrounding the breast-sucking turtle first surfaced late last year, after a young woman was lured with the promise of a shopping spree into breast-feeding a turtle on the northern outskirts of Windhoek. Although she was rumoured to have been admitted to Windhoek state hospital and later died, this could not be verified.