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Danisa Masuku
BIZARRE as it sounds, a man of two identities appeared before Western Commonage magistrate for conniving with a woman and burying the corpse of a child at a church shrine in Bulawayo’s Pumula South suburb.
Israel Gwatinyanya (53) recently told police officers that he was a traditional healer but when he appeared in court with his co-offender Pretty Sibanda for failure to give notice of death to the Registry office charge, he claimed he was a prophet.
The pair appeared before Western Commonage magistrate Progress Murandu and pleaded guilty.
They were convicted and fined US$100 each, by the end of this week or spend one month in jail.
Circumstances are that Sibanda got pregnant while she was camping at Gwatinyanya’s shrine. She gave birth at a bushy area near the shrine.
After that the new born baby fell ill, the court heard, Gwatinyanya tried to exercise his “prophetic powers” to see what was troubling the child but his “spiritual lenses” could not detect the problem.
The condition of the child deteriorated leading to his death.
Sibanda briefly returned to her home in Old Magwegwe suburb and when the relatives of her husband noticed that she was no longer pregnant and there was no baby, they became suspicious.
One of the relatives reported the incident to the police leading to the arrest of the pair.
Gwatinyanya has a pending court case where he allegedly raped a woman who had approached him for help as she faced difficulty times in her marriage.
Online Reporter