A 21-year-old woman from Overspill, Epworth, has tragically died after reportedly using a traditional medicine intended to enhance her genital ‘twins’. The incident has prompted a police investigation and renewed warnings about the dangers of purchasing unregulated medicines from street vendors.
Jacqueline Gatsi Terepi, originally from Nyagwiti, a village under Chief Chawawa and Chief Makuni in Rushinga, Mt Darwin, was renting a room in the D section of Auction, Overspill, at the time of her death. Inspector Luckmore Chakanza, the Harare province police spokesperson, confirmed the incident, stating that investigations are ongoing to determine the exact cause of death.
According to Progress Sambare (26), the landlady where Jacqueline resided, the tragic sequence of events began when two other female tenants were approached by itinerant vendors selling a herbal concoction purported to enlarge female genitalia.
“They bought this medicine, and some started using it, applying it and succeeding in enhancing their ‘twins’ to their desired length,” Mrs. Sambare explained. “This woman, who was divorced and had a two-year-old child, then took the medicine from the others and locked herself in her room and started applying the medicine to her private parts. While inside the room, she started shouting to the others, saying she was feeling a burning sensation all over her body.”
Within minutes, Jacqueline’s condition deteriorated rapidly. “She started vomiting and developing rashes all over her body, saying she was burning,” Mrs. Sambare recounted. “The woman took off all her clothes, including her underwear, and ran outside sweating. We had to grab her to stop her from running outside naked. At that time, we took her back into the house and laid her on the bed. She was showing signs of weakness.”
Desperate to help, the other tenants carried Jacqueline in a blanket to seek assistance from local women known for their traditional healing practices. “We then carried her in a blanket to some women who help, where they did what they could. We came back with her, and she died here at the house shortly after,” Mrs. Sambare said, with a filled with grief.
Following Jacqueline’s death, the vendors who sold the medicine were apprehended by the police. “The body was then taken by the police from her room where she died, and it was said that it was going to be examined by doctors,” Mrs. Sambare confirmed. “It was then taken to the deceased’s rural home in Rushinga, where she was buried last Saturday (12 July).”
The exact composition of the herbal remedy remains unknown, and it is unclear whether it was the direct cause of Jacqueline’s death. “We do not know whether this mat*nj* enlargement medicine is what killed her or whether she had another illness,” Mrs. Sambare admitted. However, she emphasised the inherent risks of purchasing unregulated medicines from informal sources. “In this case, we have learned that buying medicines from the streets causes us harm; look, one of us has left us,” she lamented.
Jacqueline’s father, Ngoni Terepi (42), expressed his grief and uncertainty surrounding the circumstances of his daughter’s death. “We were just told that the child and her friends were using medicines to enlarge their ‘things’ when this accident happened,” he said. “Whether that is the case or whether there is something else, I do not know. I am waiting to hear what came out of the examination of my child’s body because I did not witness it. We buried her at Chief Makuni’s village in Rushinga.”
Everjoy Mudzaki (29), a fellow tenant, echoed the sentiment of shock and disbelief. “We spent the day well with our friend until about 2 pm when two other women who live here bought this ‘thing’ enlargement medicine,” she recalled. “She was then also given some, and she applied it and locked herself in her room, where she then started shouting, saying she was burning, and then started vomiting and foaming while losing strength. We then took her to get help from some women, and we came back with her, and she died while defecating on herself. We do not know whether it was the ‘thing’ enlargement medicine that killed her or something else.”
Traditional healers have also weighed in on the tragedy, cautioning against the use of unregulated herbal remedies. Annah Muzimbi (47), also known as Gogo Madhuve or Madzimai Merekina, of the Johane Masowe Nyenyedzi Nomwe yeNguwo Tsvuku church, attempted to assist Jacqueline in her final moments.
“This woman was brought to my court in a blanket, already very weak,” Madzimai Merekina explained. “I saw that her genitals were excessively swollen, and she was foaming at the mouth, meaning that she was already losing breath. The medicine they were sold to enlarge ‘things’ is harmful; there are such medicines that are harmful, like a poisonous caterpillar. People should not buy medicines from people who walk around in the streets.”
Gogo Shiella Mugwagwa (60), known as Gogo Mheta, also visited Jacqueline’s residence and found her in a critical condition.
Morgan Chakandinakira (55), Madzimai Merekina’s husband, issued a stern warning against the pursuit of altering one’s natural form. “Medicines to increase the ‘things’ of women or men are harmful, and people end up dying, as happened in this case,” he said. “Let us live with our lives as we were created.”
George Kandiero, the head of the Zimbabwe National Traditional Healers Association (Zinatha), has urged the public to exercise extreme caution when seeking traditional remedies. He strongly advises against purchasing medicines from unregistered street vendors. “People should abandon the issue of buying medicines on the streets from people who walk around without licenses to do this work,” Kandiero stressed.
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