adminThe Herald, 4 August 2005
A SELF-STYLED prophet from Mabvuku was yesterday sentenced to an effective seven years in prison with labour for raping his patient twice.
Harare regional magistrate, Mr Godwin Chizhande had initially slapped Allen Nyabereka (23) with 10 years imprisonment, but conditionally suspended three years
Nyabereka pleaded not guilty, but Mr Chizhande convicted him due to overwhelming evidence against him.
Charges against Nyabereka stemmed from an incident on May 29 this year when the 20-year-old complainant fell sick and decided to seek help from Nyabereka.
The complainant, who was in the company of her father and another relative, went to Nyabereka’s Mabvuku residence and found people queuing, waiting to be served.
They joined the queue and when their turn came, they went inside the house and Nyabereka ordered the complainant’s father and an accompanying relative to leave the room.
Nyabereka and the girl remained in the room and the door was closed as well as the windows.
The court heard that Nyabereka administered an ointment into the complainant’s nose and eyes and she felt dizzy, before losing consciousness.
Nyabereka stripped her before raping her.
When the complainant regained consciousness, she discovered that Nyabereka had raped her, but she was ordered to quickly dress up and wait outside for more rituals.
Nyabereka then served the last person in the queue and again called the girl into the room. He administered the same ointment again into her nose and she fell unconscious. While she was unconscious Nyabereka raped her again and dismissed her afterwards.
In mitigation, Nyabereka said he was a youthful first offender who was not married and deserved the lenience of the court.
LESSONS FOR TODAY
The State has been tough on religious leaders or self-styled prophets found guilty of sexual offences, the crime is still being committed.
Sexual abuse is on the rise in modern prophetic churches as there is lack of structures to hold leaders accountable, and institutional systems tend to protect predators and harm victims.
Young women are the major victims of such sexual assaults, and there should be enough psycho-social systems in place to assist them.
In a continent where the church is growing faster than in any other period in history, the biblical paradox of both wheat and weeds growing together is real and people should be careful with anyone who claims to be God-sent
Many of these prophets are taking advantage of the numerous challenges faced by a population that is undergoing rapid social and economic challenges.
Rape and fraud scandals involving fake pastors have prompted calls for regulation of churches in Zimbabwe, a move which seeks to protect the innocent citizens.
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