ZCC Pastor arrested
Ghani village headman of arbitration was on Tuesday arrested for allegedly raping a teenager.
The 62-year-old headman, David David, who is also a ZCC pastor in Shaikarawe village near Shakawe, is suspected to have raped a sickly 18-year-old girl three times as a way of administering sexual healing.
Confirming the matter to The Voice in a telephone interview, Shakawe Station Commander, Keitshokile Kebodiretswe said the complainant’s mother reported the matter last week Friday.
“The report indicates that around July, the teenager met with the pastor who prophesied her sickness and promised to heal her. As the girl had a longtime illness she confirmed the prophecy and went home to inform her mother about it,” said Kebodiretswe.
The pastor is alleged to have followed up with her family at the end of July and asked to be given the girl so he can heal her.
“The mother allowed the pastor to go with the girl to Ghani where the pastor stays. In Ghani, the pastor made some concoctions for the girl to drink and steam her body. During the treatment, he went on to inform the girl that the healing ritual involved sex. Although the girl had some objections, she allowed herself to be subjected to sex with the pastor three times and went back to Shaikarawe to tell her mother what happened and she reported the incident to the police,” explained Kebodiretswe.
The Station Commander also stated this was the sixth rape case in his jurisdiction since the beginning of the year.
Meanwhile, when asked to clarify how someone can be charged with rape when the act was seemingly consensual, Francistown-based lawyer Kagiso Jani, explained, “Section 141 of the penal code which criminalizes rape says it is still rape if the consent to sex is obtained by force, threats, intimidation, fear of bodily harm or by means of false pretences as to the nature of the act.”