A self-proclaimed Zimbabwean Bishop, who with his brother
raped and impregnated a 17-year-old congregant at their
church has been sentenced to 20 years in prison.
41-year-old Bishop Andrew Mnkandla and his brother
his house and raped her on different occassions. They
threatened that if she told anyone, "the demons they had
exorcised from her would return with scores of others to haunt
her.
The court heard he went to the teen's mother with his wife and
tried to bribe her so that she convinces her daughter to change
her statement in court. Mnkandla had pleaded not guilty to
multiple counts of rape before magistrate Chrispen Mberewere.
The court was shocked when Mnkandla failed to recite four
common Bible verses.
Mr Mberewere asked Mnkandla to recite
Mr Mberewere asked Mnkandla to recite
Genesis 1 verse 1, Psalms 23 verse 1, John 3 verse 16 and
John 14 verse 1.
He drew laughter from the gallery when he said John 3 verse 16
reads:
"Let your hearts not be troubled," but it actually reads:
"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and
only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish
but have eternal life."
'Oh well bishop, it looks like the Bible is giving you a
hard time," said Mr Mberewere. "You can't even recite
very common verses familiar to many people. Let's just
get back to the business that brings you here, that of
bedroom issues, because you seem to be better in that
department."
The magistrate convicted Mnkandla and sentenced him to 20
years in jail. In her testimony, the teen had said Lovemore
raped her at Khami Mountains and Mnkandla raped her at his
house.
"We went to the mountains for seven days with my
father and Lovemore. My father was called back to work
on the fourth day, leaving me with Lovemore. On our
way home he dragged me into a nearby bush and raped
me.
He told me if I told anyone, all the demons would
He told me if I told anyone, all the demons would
return," she said.
"Mnkandla came to our house and asked me to go to his
house where he raped me twice. The first time he wore
a condom. On another occassion he held me hostage in
his house the whole night. My mother came to look for
me at his house while I was in his bedroom but he
denied knowledge of my whereabouta. He told me to
escape through the back door and wait for him at a
football pitch close by. He came to get me later and
instructed me to tell my father that I had spent the night
at a school gate." she added.
Source:The Chronicle
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