Locked, Starved and Forgotten, St Mary’s Teen Dies After Three Years of Trauma

By Shingirai Vambe

Harare – A TEENAGER, who endured the pain, torture and trauma of being locked up in a dirty room for three years at the family’s house in St Mary’s, while also being denied meals, has died at Chitungwiza Central Hospital.

Tinotenda Purumero, 16, was receiving specialist medical care at the hospital while waiting to be taken to a children’s home.

His father Herbert Purumero, 45, and his step mother, Memory Kamuchato, 40, starved Tinotenda to such an extent that he ended up feeding up on anything he came across in the room, including his human waste.

This resulted in him suffering from malnutrition.

The two locked Tinotenda inside their house in St Mary’s, when he was 14, and his plight was only known to neighbours when he was 16.

Herbert and Memory were arrested.

Chitungwiza Magistrate Dennis Mangosi sentenced them to 24 months in prison.

Four months were suspended on condition of good behaviour. It remains to be seen if the same court is going to review the charges against this heartless couple following Tinotenda’s death.

Initially, the couple was charged with ill-treating the teenager.

But, given he died after such ill-treatment, chances are high their case could be reviewed to either murder or culpable homicide depending on circumstances.

Chitungwiza Central Hospital public relations officer, Audrey Tasaranarwo, confirmed Tinotenda’s death.

“The boy was still admitted at our hospital and he died on the 17th of this month,” she said.

She did not give further details.

Herbert is the biological father of Tinotenda while Memory is his step-mother and they were staying at House Number 907 in St Mary’s.

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.

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 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 has learning difficulties.

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

A visit to the couple’s house, the scene of the crime, showed that his sister was taken by a relative, who stays in Epworth.

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.

“There wasn’t any care home which was prepared to take him during that time.”

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

Three years ago, Gogo Plaxedes Mashasha had been keeping his son, Grant, in the ceiling at her house for 14 years. Now, Herbert and his wife Memory have joined this Hall of Shame.

This case resonates well with 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 had turned down his love proposal.