A relative of Grant Mashasha said the 39-year-old man spent only four days in the ceiling of the family home in Zengeza 3, Chitungwiza, not the 14 years that have been widely reported in the media.
A family spokesperson, Nobuhle Mashasha, told H-Metro that Grant spent four days hiding in the ceiling and was afraid that someone was after his life.
Nobuhle also claimed that Grant slept on the sofa for 10 years confined to a room, and not 14 years. She said:
We managed to meet and talk to Grant upon our arrival from Gwanda.
From how he looked on the day he was retrieved from the ceiling, Grant has changed completely, showing a healthy, handsome face.
He feels stressed to quickly open up about how he came to be kept indoors for 10 years.
He told us that he had been living in a room and slept on a sofa for 10 years, not 14, as reported.
He spent four days in the ceiling, frightened by his mother’s threats that there were people after his life.
He is beginning to understand that there is no one after his life and is now interacting with others.
He is still scared of answering some questions thinking that someone might still be targeting his life.
Grant’s mother, Gogo Plaxedes Mashasha is in custody for failing to report the death of her husband.
Nobuhle said they read about the death of her grandfather in H-Metro, as her grandmother never informed anyone