Online Reporter
Yeukai Karengezeka, Court Correspondent
Apostolic sect leader Ishmael Chokurongerwa, widely known as Madzibaba Ishmael, has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for raping a 15-year-old congregant.
Presiding magistrate Mrs Estere Chivasa condemned Chokurongerwa’s actions, describing them as heinous and a gross abuse of power under the guise of religion.
The court heard that Chokurongerwa had impregnated three victims, but none of them directly accused him during the trial, instead providing false names of the alleged perpetrators.
However, DNA tests conducted by the National University of Science and Technology (NUST) conclusively established that Chokurongerwa fathered three children with the victims.
Initially, Chokurongerwa faced three counts of rape. However, Magistrate Chivasa acquitted him of two charges, as the victims involved in those cases had reached the age of consent by the time the incidents occurred.
