Married Prophet Rapes House Girl During Funeral

A self-proclaimed prophet sneaked away from a funeral, leaving behind his wife and ran back home where he allegedly raped his maid last week.

He allegedly told the maid that she had a bad spell on her which he wanted to remove and ordered the girl to remove her clothes before rubbing her whole body with some salt. He then allegedly raped the girl once.

Bheriyaye Zviratidzo prophet Dickson Makono from Dadirai Village under Chief Ndanga in Zaka, a well-known Zviratidzo Apostolic church appeared at Masvingo Magistrates Court facing rape charges.

It was the State's case that on August 26, 2010, the accused and his wife sought the help of the complainant (16) asa child minder in their absence as they wanted to attend a funeral.

Prosecutor Frank Chirairo told the court that Chikono and his wife left for the funeral after the complainant agreed to take care of their three children,but, the accused allegedly returned home the following day at 2200hrs without his wife and asked if the complainant could prepare some food for him since he was hungry.

After eating, it was alleged that the accused ordered the complainant to take a packet of salt and follow him to a nearby river where he claimed he wanted to cleanse the girl of evil spirits that were haunting her. Chikono allegedly said the evil spirits had been casted on the girl by her grandmother.

When they reached the river the accused allegedly forced the complainant to strip naked and started to rub salt upon her body before asking the girl to sit down for the salt to "penetrate," her skin.

After a short while the accused dragged the complainant to a nearby bush where he raped her once. The complainant allegedly spent the rest of the night at the spot and went home to notify her mother who then made a report to the Police.

The accused pleaded not guilty before magistrate Esther Muremba and was remanded in custody waiting for trial.