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A SELF-STYLED prophet yesterday appeared in court for allegedly raping a woman who had come to his shrine for deliverance.
Gore Mukondiwa (38), who is of no- fixed abode, allegedly forced himself on the 20-year-old woman (name withheld to protect her identity) after she had approached him with her problems.
Prosecutor Ms Valerie Ngoma told the court that on April 15 the woman approached Mukondiwa over her problem and the latter said she was being tormented by evil spirits which needed to be exorcised. Mukondiwa instructed her to remove her clothes for a ritual, but she refused, the court heard.
He then allegedly forcibly undressed her and raped her. The victim produced a medical affidavit confirming that she was raped.
Mukondiwa denied the charge saying the woman had fabricated the case to fix him. He told the court that the woman had consulted him on April 8 for his prophesy as to whether she would survive an abortion that she wanted to undergo.
He alleged that he filed her details and warned her that he would report her to relevant authorities since he did not condone evil deeds as a man of God. The woman allegedly told him that she had not forced him to assist her. She allegedly promised to fix Mukondiwa if he divulged her secret.
The woman later returned to the shrine on April 17 and started screaming that she had been raped whereupon two men appeared and apprehended him.
Mukondiwa said that one of the two men demanded payment from the woman as they were leaving the shrine for the police station.
The woman allegedly told the men that she would pay them upon the prophet’s detention.
Harare magistrate Mr Rodgers Kachambwa deferred judgment to September 20.
Online Reporter