Indecent assault prophet in no show at court

A WARRANT of arrest has been issued against a 32-year-old Bulawayo “prophet” who allegedly indecently assaulted a juvenile under the guise of exorcising her of evil spirits.

Boniface Mwareka of Entumbane suburb appeared before Bulawayo provincial magistrate, Mr Matthew Mutiro, on charges of aggravated indecent assault.

Mwareka was scheduled to appear in court last week for judgment but didn’t show up, prompting the warrant for his arrest.

Prosecutor, Ms Concillia Ncube, said the incident occurred on June 28 at around 4.30pm.

Ms Ncube said the complainant had just arrived home from school when she found the accused with her parents’ company.

“The accused then instructed the complainant to change her uniform as he wanted to pray for her. He instructed the girl to put her head inside a dish with milk after which he instructed the complainant to remove her clothes and squat above the same dish,” said Ms Ncube.

The accused then started washing the girl’s private parts with milk before inserting his finger inside her private parts under the guise of cleansing her.

The matter only came to light when the complainant told her mother what had transpired. A report was made to the police leading to Mwareka’s arrest.

The complainant’s father told the court that they had asked the accused to pray for the entire family.

He said the accused then instructed the rest of the family members to wait outside as he purportedly exorcised evil spirits from his daughter.

“We paid him US$40 for his services. When my daughter came outside, she told us that the prayers had been done and we got back inside the house and prayed,” he said.

The girl’s father said later in the evening his daughter told her mother about what transpired.

In his testimony, the girl’s father told the court that the accused tried to manipulate his daughter into believing that the rituals were being performed to prevent her parents from dying.