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Lovemore Meya Court Reporter
A self-proclaimed prophet who raped a 19-year-old woman in Chitungwiza under the pretext of exorcising evil spirits that he claimed caused her infertility has been sentenced to an effective 13 years in jail.

Abraham Mlazi (22) of St Mary’s suburb induced fear into the woman and her husband saying they would have problems in the future.

Mlazi denied the two counts of rape when he appeared before Chitungwiza regional magistrate Ms Estere Chivasa, but was convicted after prosecutor Mr Lovet Muringwa proved a strong case against him.

Ms Chivasa slapped him with 16 years and set aside three years for five years. In sentencing him, Ms Chivasa said Mlazi’s moral blameworthiness was very high.

“You reduced the couple to captives and you convinced the complainant and her husband that you would help them,” she said.

“Instead, you went on to rape the woman without protection, raising fears to the husband, but it was fortunate that he took her back.”

Circumstances were that on August 5 this year, Mlazi invited the 19-year-old woman to Hunyani River in Chitungwiza for a healing session.

Earlier on, Mlazi had indicated that the woman’s infertility was being caused by the evil spirits.

The woman went to the river where she met Mlazi and was instructed to kneel down for the healing session.

The court heard that she complied and Mlazi told her that in order for her to be healed, she was supposed to have sexual intercourse with him. The woman refused, but Mlazi pushed her to the ground before raping her.

After the act, he told the woman that she would vomit blood for three days and her problems would worsen if she revealed the rape to anyone.

The woman did not reveal the abuse and on August 26, Mlazi called the woman to the same place where he raped her again.

He threatened that if she refused to be intimate with him she was going to be divorced by her husband.

When she returned home, the woman told her husband of the abuse and the matter was reported to the police.