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NewsDay

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Cop accused of allegedly torturing schoolboy (16) over cellphone

News
A BULAWAYO police officer and a city council security officer are accused of abducting and brutally assaulting a schoolboy (16), leaving him for dead after pulling his private parts.

BY NIZBERT MOYO

A BULAWAYO police officer and a city council security officer are accused of abducting and brutally assaulting a schoolboy (16), leaving him for dead after pulling his private parts.

The two accused the boy of stealing a cell phone at a carwash last month.

The boy has since filed a police report at the West Commonage Police Station, which enabled him to be attended to at the United Bulawayo Hospital.

Acting Bulawayo Police spokesperson Inspector Abedinico Ncube on Friday confirmed having received such a report.

“Yes, the report was received and is under investigation,’’ Ncube said.

The boy was in great pain when Southern Eye visited him at his Mpopoma home.

The boy, a Form Four pupil at Msitheli Secondary School and stays with his brothers, said he now stayed indoors due to the trauma, adding he was having challenges in passing urine and walking.

He said his ordeal started on April 4, when he went to download his school material using Wi-Fi at a carwash owned by his neighbour, Thulani Tshuma in the suburb of Mpopoma.

“A Bulawayo council security officer identified as Milister Shumba told me and my colleague to wash a car. Shumba said the car belonged to his relative, only identified as Malfred. Shumba said Tshuma had told him to instruct me to wash the car,” he said.

“After a week, the owner of the car accused us of having stolen his cell phone, power bank, bank cards and a flash card from his car. He reported the matter to West Commonage Police Station.”

The boy said they were taken to the police station where they met Constable Shumba, who interviewed them and only freed them after they had spend a night at the police station.

“After nine days, the policeman, the BCC security officer and Malfred came home around 11pm and took me to a dark place near Gampu Primary School, having deceived my neighbours that they were taking me to the police station,” the boy narrated.

“They told me to remove my clothes and stepped on my feet before kicking me and pulling my private parts for almost two hours. They took me back home and while on the way, the policeman hit me on the neck with fists, telling me not to tell anyone.”

Southern Eye saw the boy’s medical report, compiled by a doctor at the United Bulawayo Hospital, dated April 24.

The doctor, in his report, said when he examined the boy on April 24, he observed “soft tissue injuries, bilateral lower ribs, testicular swelling and soft tissue swelling on the left leg”.

The boy is still on treatment at the hospital though he has since started attending school.