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Mashudu Netsianda, Senior Court Reporter
THE Prosecutor-General Johannes Tomana is challenging the recent acquittal of Johanne Marange Apostolic sect leader, Clement Momberume, who was facing rape charges.
Momberume who was alleged to have lured his nephew’s wife to a local hotel where he allegedly raped her, was acquitted at the close of the state case by Bulawayo regional magistrate Mark Dzira last July.
Dzira concluded that the State had failed to prove a prima facie case against Momberume who was facing two counts of rape.
In court papers filed recently in the High Court, Tomana is the appellant while Momberume was cited as the respondent.
Prosecutor Timothy Makoni, who filed the application on behalf of Tomana seeks an order that sets aside Dzira’s ruling.
He also wants the matter to be remitted back to the regional magistrate for continuation of trial.
“It’s the acquittal and the appellant’s dissatisfaction with it that forms the basis of this application. The court-a-quo misdirected itself by acquitting the respondent yet the state had clearly established a prima facie case against the respondent and as such he ought to have been put to his defence,” argued Tomana.
He said the magistrate erred by rejecting the evidence given by the complainant’s husband.
“The court aquo erred by disregarding the evidence of the complainant’s husband in as much as it proved that the complainant made several attempts to communicate about the abuse. The court erred by relying on conjecture to the extent that the complainant was having a relationship with the respondent,” said the Prosecutor-General.
“The appellant seeks leave of this court and genuinely seeks to test the correctness of the judgment of the court-a-aquo.”
Momberume, was accused of raping his nephew’s wife at a local hotel in Bulawayo on the pretext that he was prophesying on her.
The court heard that on April 9, 2013, Momberume met the woman in the city and took her to the hotel.The two sat in the lounge during which Momberume prophesied about the woman’s family issues, saying she needed cleansing as he alleged that her husband kept a two-headed snake in Mutare.
Momberume then gave her a drink which she took and started feeling dizzy.
Momberume then asked the woman to follow him to his hotel room where he allegedly undressed and raped her once.
The woman later gained consciousness and found herself naked with water all over her body.
Momberume called the woman on the next day saying he had confessed to her husband and that they were supposed to meet with him at the same hotel to explain.
Momberume met the woman at the hotel where he allegedly offered her a drink which she took and felt dizzy.
Momberume placed her on the bed and raped her once again and told her to go home.The woman narrated her ordeal to her husband and a report was made leading to Momberume’s arrest.
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