Online Reporter
THERE are bad ideas, terrible ideas and then there is deciding that the best way to cast out demons is to chain people to a tree overnight, frogmarch them to a river and whip them for almost an entire day.
That spectacular display of misguided thinking has earned a Damasko Zion Christian Church bishop a well-deserved place in Zimbabwe’s Hall of Criminal Infamy.
Chrispen Gomore will now have 10 years behind bars to reflect on the difference between spiritual deliverance and criminal assault after the Bulawayo High Court convicted him of culpable homicide.
He was found criminally liable for the death of a female congregant during what was supposed to be an exorcism ritual.
Justice Ngoni Nduna spared Gomore a murder conviction after ruling that the State had failed to prove beyond reasonable doubt that he intended to kill the woman.
Unfortunately for the bishop, repeatedly whipping someone until they die still attracts the attention of the criminal justice system.
The court heard that on March 6, 2023, the woman and her husband, Fortunate Mukwayi, travelled to the church shrine for prayers.
Instead of finding comfort, they found themselves accused of being mentally disturbed after a disagreement with another pastor.
The church’s solution?
They were shackled with chains, tied to a tree and left there overnight.
Apparently, someone thought that was an acceptable form of spiritual healing.
The following morning, the couple was taken to Limpopo River for baptism before returning to the shrine, where Gomore entered a room carrying a leather whip.
From around 9am until late at night, he repeatedly lashed the couple while ignoring their desperate cries for mercy.
Mukwayi told the court that the bishop whipped both of them indiscriminately all over their bodies. He said he repeatedly tried to shield his wife and begged Gomore to stop, but the assault continued until both victims lost consciousness.
Their daughter, Samantha, witnessed part of the horrific ordeal and later testified during the trial. Police arrived at the shrine the following day and found the woman dead.
A post-mortem established that she died from encephalic contusion (localised injury to the brain tissue), cranial trauma and multiple injuries sustained during the prolonged assault.
In sentencing Gomore, Justice Nduna made it abundantly clear that hiding behind religion does not transform brutality into holiness. The judge said courts had a duty to protect vulnerable people and to send a clear message that no amount of religious standing or claimed spiritual authority could ever provide immunity from criminal prosecution.
He added that Gomore’s negligence bordered on “recklessness of the highest order” and that a non-custodial sentence would only diminish the seriousness of the offence.
Although the bishop was the breadwinner for a large family, Justice Nduna ruled that prison was the only appropriate destination.
And so, the man who claimed to be driving out demons will now spend the next decade confronting a far less forgiving congregation — his fellow inmates.
Bongani Ndlovu