Evidence proves rape case against Madzibaba Gathry ‘beyond reasonable doubt’

The State is urging regional magistrate, Estere Chivasa, to convict controversial prophet, Madzibaba Gathry, who is facing charges of raping a minor at his house.

 

The State is arguing that it has proved every essential element of the rape case beyond any reasonable doubt.

 

Madzibaba Gathry is being accused of raping a minor and his wife Diana Chauke, and the girl’s mother, are also accused of playing a part in the crime.

 

The girl’s mother is being accused of agreeing to let her daughter get raped by Madzibaba Gathry, who had allegedly claimed that he needed to have sex with a virgin girl, to enable him to cure the woman’s mentally challenged child.

 

She is also accused of taking five months to report the case to the police despite her daughter telling her that she had been raped the day after the incident. The trio is expected in court tomorrow for their judgement.

 

Prosecutor Tracy Mundanga has urged the court to convict all the three suspects, arguing that the prosecution proved every essential element of the charges beyond any reasonable doubt.

 

She argued that the 13-year-old complainant was a credible and truthful witness whose account of the alleged rape cases remained consistent throughout cross examination.

 

She submitted that the child’s medical report confirmed healed hymenal tears consistent with penetration and that there was no history of prior sexual activity.

 

Mundanga told the court that the complainant reported the alleged rape to her mother, the following day, satisfying the requirement of making an early complaint.

 

It argues that the five-month delay, in reporting to police, resulted from the mother’s failure to act and should not be held against the child.

 

Allegations are that sometime in January this year, the complainant was taken by her biological mother to the accused person’s home during the night.

 

Madzibaba Gathry, a known faith healer in the area, was attending to the complainant’s mentally challenged sister.

 

During the healing sessions, Madzibaba Gathry allegedly demanded that the complainant’s mother provide him with a virgin girl.

 

He allegedly said he needed to have sex with a virgin girl for him to cure the mentally challenged child.

 

The prosecutor said Chauke agreed with her husband’s idea, and even brought a gun, threatening the mother to comply.

 

According to the State, the complainant’s mother agreed to the arrangement out of fear.

 

The court heard that during one night, Chauke allegedly arranged for Madibaba Gathry and the complainant to sleep in one room.

 

The complainant’s mother and the other child were ordered to sleep in another room.

 

It was alleged Madzibaba Gathry undressed himself and ordered the complainant to undress as well.

 

She refused.

 

He is alleged to have threatened her with a gun, removed her clothes, and raped her, an act the court was told occurred once.

 

The next day, the complainant was left at the accused person’s home.

 

During the day, the prosecutor said Madibaba Gathry demanded to have sex with the complainant again, claiming the mental condition of the patient needed to be fully “solved.”

 

It was further alleged that Chauke, still acting in common purpose with her husband, insisted the complainant was supposed to comply because her husband was armed.

 

The State alleged that the complainant complied out of fear and was raped again without protection.

 

Chauke allegedly provided her with underwear and clothes to wear.

 

The prosecutor told the court that Madibaba Gathry then threatened to kill the complainant if she disclosed the matter to anyone.

 

According to the allegations, the complainant’s mother later collected her in the evening and took her back home, with no action taken against the accused persons.

 

The matter only came to light last month when the complainant, her mother and siblings were undergoing a healing session with an Apostolic prophet, Shupikai Nyamuda.

 

The prophet allegedly prophesied about the sexual assault incident.

 

The complainant’s mother, accompanied by Nyamuda, then reported the matter to the police. *_-H-Metro_*