ZZC bishop acquitted

Weekender Reporter —
ZVIRATIDZO Zvevapostori Church, Zimbabwe’s bishop, Bishop Richman Nyamombe was this week acquitted of rape. Mutare regional magistrate, Mr Alex Shumba found him not guilty and acquitted him.

Mr Mike Tembo appeared for the State, while Bishop Nyamombe was represented by Mr Farai Matinhure of Gonese and Ndlovu Legal Practitoners. The State had alleged that Bishop Nyamombe raped a female congregant aged 20 years from Dangamvura in August 2015.

Presenting the State case, Mr Tembo said: “On the date not remembered by the complainant, but in August 2015, the complainant was at 12 Miles in Zimunya where she was attending a church meeting. She was invited to collect groceries from the accused person’s vehicle, an Elgrand, Registration Number ADE8780.While inside the vehicle, the accused person closed the doors and grabbed the complainant’s neck. He forced her to the seat and raped her three times.”

The court heard that on another date in September 2015 while in town, Bishop Nyamombe took the complainant to an unknown lodge where he raped her again. It was alleged that the complainant fell pregnant as a result of the rape and gave birth to a baby boy while in South Africa.

Mr Tembo said the complainant informed her husband about the rape while in South Africa on an unknown date, but a police report was only made at Mutare Central on August 24, 2016.