Evil Chitungwiza couple locks up their 16-year old son in their house for 3 years

*.…The boy starved to such an extent that he ended up feeding up on anything he saw in the room, including his human waste*

A HEARTLESS couple locked up their 16-year-old son in their house for THREE years.

 

Herbert Purumero (45), and his wife Memory Kamuchato (40), starved Tinotenda Purumero (16) to such an extent that he ended up feeding up on anything he saw in the room, including his human waste.

This resulted in him suffering from malnutrition.

They locked him in a room at their house in St Mary’s.

Herbert is the biological father of Tinotenda while Memory is his step-mother.They reside at house number 907 in St Mary’s.

It’s the latest bizarre case, of a similar nature, to come out of Chitungwiza.

Three years ago, H-Metro broke the exclusive story that Gogo Plaxedes Mashasha had been keeping his son, Grant, in the ceiling for 14 years.

Now, Herbert and his wife Memory have joined this hall of shame.

Herbert separated from Tinotenda’s mother, who has since remarried.

Tinotenda ended up suffering from extensive malnutrition and severe bruises on his body suggest that he was being assaulted on numerous occasions.

The couple, who were arrested, appeared before magistrate Dennis Mangosi who sentenced them to 24 months in prison.

Four months were suspended on condition of good behaviour and they will each serve an effective 20 months for the ill-treatment of Tinotenda.

The teenage boy is currently admitted at a local hospital and he is set to be taken to a care home.

Prosecutor Shamiso Charmaine Mwapangira told the court that from May 2022, the two locked the teenage boy in a very dirty room and denied him access to free movement.

They even denied him access to health care even after noticing that his health was deteriorating.

Most of the time, said the State, the complainant was left in the custody of his 23 year-old sister Paidamoyo Purumero, who is a slow learner.

Their devilish acts affected the teenager’s mental, moral and physiological well-being.

The couple was charged with ill-treatment or neglecting of children and young persons as defined in Section 7 (1) of the Children’s Act Chapter 06.

An H-Metro crew managed to visit the couple’s house, the scene of the crime, there was no one at the house.

Tinotenda’s sister was taken by a relative who stays in Epworth.

Other tenants had gone to work.

However, some neighbours were prepared to speak on condition their identity was not revealed.

“Tinotenda was once released from hospital after showing signs of recovering but, however, there was nobody at home resulting in them taking him back to the hospital where he is receiving care.

“We heard that they have not yet found a Children’s Care Home that is willing to take him,” said one of the neighbours.

This case is similar to the one of Gogo Mashasha, who locked up her son Grant Mashasha, in their ceiling for 14 years.

Grant ended up developing long nails, pale skin and was unable to communicate well with other people when he was eventually freed from his ordeal.

His case only came to light when it was established that Gogo Mashasha had been living with the corpse of her husband for five days.

The corpse was in a decomposing state when authorities arrived to deal with the bizarre cases at this Zengeza home.

In yet another related case in Zengeza, a woman was locked in the family house for three years.

Talent Gent’s grandmother, Gogo Mushore (71) had kept her locked up in the house saying there was a rogue man in the neighbourhood who wanted to abduct her because she turned down his love proposal.h-metro