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“THOU shalt not steal” is one of the Ten Commandments, but a Dangamvura man chose to thumb his nose on it after he stole two Bibles from the Scripture Union bookshop recently. However, for his offence, Herbert Manjonjo (32) of House Number 1938, Area 15 earned a $50 fine after being convicted by senior Mutare magistrate, Mrs Sekai Chiundura.
Failure to pay the fine will see him serving 30 days behind bars.
As part of his defence, Manjonjo said he stole the holy books because he wanted to keep himself connected to the Word of God.
He said he wanted to give one of the Bibles to his wife so that they would remain spiritually attached to God’s Word, a statement which drew laughter from the court gallery.
In a State case led by Mr Donald Mudadirwa, the court heard that Manjonjo, on February 5 at around 1.40pm went to Scripture Union bookshop pretending to be a genuine customer.
He inquired about the prices of the Bibles before stashing them in his shirt after seeing that the complainant, Janet Bhiri (46), was busy serving another customer.
He stormed out of the shop.
He, however, ran out of luck after Bhiri who witnessed the whole incident gave chase.
Manjonjo was apprehended and the two Bibles worth $32 were recovered.
Mrs Chiundura reminded Manjonjo that stealing was not the best way to connect with the Word of God.
Online Reporter