BULAWAYO – Police have released CCTV images of their only suspect in the ritualistic killing of a prostitute in a Bulawayo lodge.

Patience Ndlovu’s body was found by a cleaner on June 3. She had no visible injuries on her but the number 666 had been inscribed on her belly.

The number 666 is cryptically referred to as the “number of the Beast” in the Book of Revelation, and has more recently become known as the number of the Antichrist.

A post mortem later found that Ndlovu had been strangled. She was buried on June 9.

Police believe they are hunting a member of the occult – but have been unable to identify the man captured in the lodge’s CCTV footage.

Manhunt … Police looking for information to identify their spiky-haired suspect in the murder of Patience Ndlovu (left)

The spiky-haired man wearing a black T-Shirt checked into the lodge at 3AM on June 2. Staff at Silver Sands Lodge on Connaught Avenue remember seeing him with a visibly drunk woman who carried a bucket of ice.

The suspect paid for an extra day at 10AM of the same day, saying his companion was tired, according to hotel staff.

He left the lodge at around 2PM promising to return but never did. A cleaner walked into Ndlovu’s lifeless body the following morning, sparking a police murder enquiry.

Police quickly established that their suspect had provided a false Pumula South address.

Inspector Abednico Ncube of Bulawayo police said they had now turned to the public in trying to identify their suspect.

Anyone with information that could lead to his arrest is advised to contact Seargent Ncube on +263773629244 or Chief Inspector Chibira on +26329271568 or +26329277523.