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Leonard Ncube Court Reporter
PROMINENT black empowerment activist Sonny Kuzomunhu Chasi charged with the murder of his pregnant wife and raping his daughter yesterday told the court that the rape charges were a malicious fabrication by his in-laws who wanted to fix him.Chasi, 73, of Richmond in Bulawayo, is on trial at the Bulawayo High Court for killing Dorcas Majola and raping his daughter on six occasions.
“The girl is lying. We were never alone at home and she never prepared any meal for me as she claims. The allegations are coming from the Majola family as its way of fixing me for the death of its daughter,” he said.
“It hurts me to hear that a matter that was discovered and resolved long back is now coming out because my wife is dead,” added Chasi who claims to have he loved his wife.
On Monday Chasi’s eldest daughter Rutendo told the court that her father allegedly raped her half sister and made her bath in his semen in what she claimed was a ritual for the family to get rich.
Chasi refuted the allegations: “It is not true that I raped her. She was even examined when they went to Child Line and there was no evidence until her mom’s death. She was above 16 years old when this allegedly happened and the question is, where was she when I was in jail?”
A bragging Chasi told the court that his daughter’s rape claims for riches were unfounded as he had made enough wealth before she was born.
He said his family knew nothing about the rituals. Chasi maintained that four men approached him while he was walking with his wife at night and attacked them with a knobkerrie, resulting in her death.
Justice Martin Makonese quizzed why he did not report the case until at about 5AM and he said he couldn’t leave her alone in pain.
Chasi claimed he screamed until he lost his voice after being attacked as he wanted to draw attention of potential rescuers but to no avail.
Whisper Mabhaudi, prosecuting, said Chasi was released on July 6, 2012, on home-leave from Connemara Open Prison outside Gweru after serving time for fraud and found Majola four months pregnant at their Waterford house.
The couple argued over the pregnancy and Chasi allegedly assaulted her and she fled. He went back to prison and was released on November 2, 2012, and allegedly threatened to kill Majola, demanding to know who was responsible for the pregnancy.
On November 15, the same year, he picked her from her workplace at a city hotel at about 3PM and allegedly forced her to go for an HIV test at Bambanani Centre.
It is alleged that Chasi took Majola to an unknown destination where he assaulted her until she fell unconscious while bleeding profusely.
He then carried her to the intersection of Lawley Road and 4th Street in Suburbs, say prosecutors.
Chasi allegedly made a false report that four men had robbed them and police attended the scene. Majola died on admission to the United Bulawayo Hospitals.
The postmortem report showed Majola suffered a ruptured placenta, depressed skull and brain damage. She also lost her baby weighing 2,9kg.
Majola’s death and the subsequent police investigation uncovered claims that Chasi had raped one of his daughters on six occasions in 2008.
The victim, say prosecutors, narrated the abuse to three teachers at her school. It is alleged that Chasi ordered her to undress and face north, west, south and east before they went back into the house where he raped her.
Herbert Shenje is representing Chasi pro deo.
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