Kidnapped at 5, found alive after 13 years

Tendai Gukutikwa
Post Reporter
AFTER 13 years of heartbreak, unanswered questions and fading hope, a Mutare mother has been reunited with the daughter she believed she might never see again after the teenager surfaced in Mozambique and pleaded on social media for help finding her family.
Tariro Mahumba, who disappeared from a crèche in Sakubva’s OTS section in 2013 at the age of five, was this week traced to Madeira, Mozambique, where she reportedly revealed that she was kidnapped from Zimbabwe and subjected to years of abuse.
The dramatic breakthrough came after the now 18-year-old’s appeal circulated on social media, triggering a frantic search for her relatives which ultimately led to her mother, Mrs Georgina Muchekadzose of Fairview, Mutare.
For a woman who had spent more than a decade not knowing whether her child was alive or dead, the phone call changed everything.
“When I talked to her, I immediately knew she was my daughter. She also recognised me.
“She has not changed. Her face is still the same. She looks like me and her brothers. I am so happy. The fact that she remembered my name and her brother, Ngoni after so many years is very touching,” an emotional Mrs Muchekadzose told The Manica Post on Wednesday.

What should have been a joyous reunion, however, has also reopened painful questions about what happened to Tariro and who was responsible for her disappearance.
Mrs Muchekadzose said Tariro vanished in 2013 while attending a crèche operated at a church in Sakubva’s OTS suburb, where the family rented a room.
On the day she went missing, Mrs Muchekadzose had travelled into Mutare’s city centre, where she earned a living through cooking and selling sadza.
“When I returned home, I was told that Tariro could not be found. We searched everywhere, but there was no trace of her,” she said. The disappearance was immediately reported to the police, but investigators failed to uncover any leads.
With no answers forthcoming, suspicion initially fell on Tariro’s father, Mr Tonderai Muhamba, who had crossed into Mozambique on the same day that the child disappeared.
“At that time we had separated, and I suspected he had taken her. He strongly denied it and nothing was ever proved,” said Mrs Muchekadzose.
As the years passed, hope gradually gave way to despair. The family embarked on a desperate search, consulting traditional and spiritual healers and following countless leads, but none yielded results.
When Cyclone Idai devastated parts of Zimbabwe and Mozambique in 2019, Mrs Muchekadzose feared the worst.
“I began to think maybe my daughter had died. It was painful not knowing whether she was alive or dead,” she said.
That uncertainty ended on Tuesday night when she received a call informing her that a young woman claiming to be her missing daughter had appeared on social media in Mozambique.
After making contact with people who had taken the teenager into their care, Mrs Muchekadzose learnt that Tariro had allegedly escaped from the house where she was being kept captivity.
The family sheltering her claimed she had previously escaped when she was seven, but was later found and returned by her alleged captors.
“They told me she had tried to escape before and that a social media appeal was made years ago, but I never saw it,” she said.
Mrs Muchekadzose said Tariro recounted years of hardship and abuse.
“She told me she was beaten almost every day and had run away twice. The second time, she fled because the people keeping her were threatening to kill her,” said Mrs Muchekadzose.
Despite finding her daughter, another challenge remains, bringing her home.
Mrs Muchekadzose said Mozambican authorities advised that formal processes could delay Tariro’s return, and she may need to travel through Chipinge to collect her daughter in Espungabera.
For the struggling mother, the journey is currently beyond her means.

“If I had the money, I would leave today and bring her home myself,” she said.
Language has also become a barrier.
After spending most of her life in Mozambique, Tariro now speaks mainly Portuguese and remembers only a little Shona.
Yet it was the fragments of memory she carried from childhood that ultimately reunited her with her family.
“The people helping her found me because she remembered my name and her brother’s name. She only remembered part of our surname, but it was enough,” said Mrs Muchekadzose.
To support her claim, she produced Tariro’s birth records and family photographs taken shortly before the child disappeared.
Born on March 28, 2008, Tariro was just five-years-old when she vanished.
Today, 13 years later, her mother has only one wish.
“I still do not know who took her or why. All that matters right now is that my daughter is alive,” said Mrs Muchekadzose.
Mrs Muchekadzose said she intends to report the latest developments to Dangamvura Police Station as authorities in Zimbabwe and Mozambique work towards reuniting the family.