A cheeky teenager who recently went to a house  disguised as a girl and got employed as a housemaid was unmasked at a police station after being arrested for stealing a cellphone and clothes from his employer. The accused, who claimed that he was 16, went to Mrs Viola Mapuranga’s house at Stand Number 27 Cheuchi Farm in Chinhoyi on April 24 where he introduced himself as Patience Mapuranga and indicated that he was related to the family.

He was employed as a maid and worked for a week before leaving unannounced after stealing a cellphone and clothes valued at $150. During his stay, he would sleep in the same room with the family’s 14-year-old daughter. After vanishing from the house, the accused went to Epworth near Harare where he sought refuge at Tatenda Kanazache’s house, but his host soon became suspicious and reported him to the police.

Upon arrest, the boy who was still dressing as a girl, gave his name as Anna Muzhuzha. He was linked to the theft case reported in Chinhoyi after police searched him and discovered that he was in fact a boy. The boy has since appeared before Chinhoyi magistrate Miss Nyasha Kuture where he pleaded guilty to theft .Mrs Mapuranga told the court that she never suspected anything about the accused whom she let sleep in the same room with her daughter.

Asked if her daughter would change her clothes in the accused’s presence, Mrs Mapuranga said that was the case, but added that the boy never took off his clothes in her daughter’s presence. In his defence, the accused said he acted in that way because he was an orphan and lived on the streets.