In a shocking turn of events, a 49-year-old sangoma from Epworth, Darlington Mabudo, has been apprehended and charged with rape after allegedly taking advantage of a woman he was spiritually cleansing. The accused appeared before Harare Magistrate Mr Stanford Mambanje yesterday, where he was granted bail of US$100. The case is set to resume on March 11.
According to the prosecution, the harrowing incident unfolded in May 2023 when the 21-year-old complainant, who was selling fish at the Auction area in Epworth, encountered Mabudo. Claiming to be in need of fish but lacking cash, Mabudo persuaded the woman to accompany him to his house. It was during their journey that he revealed himself as a spirit medium and informed her that she had a malevolent spirit that required cleansing. He provided her with his phone number and suggested she contact him for the cleansing.
Disturbed by the encounter, the complainant confided in her mother, leading to a visit to Mabudo’s residence the following day for the alleged spiritual cleansing. Mabudo told the complainant that she owed him US$150 for cleansing but she told him that she had no money. Instead, she offered to accompany him wherever he went to cleanse other people such that she would get free service.
In that same month of May, Mabudo invited the complainant to accompany him to Shamva, where he had a ceremony at Tembo homestead and was able to convince the house owner to offer them one room.
Before they could sleep every day, Mabudo told the complainant that the spirit that was on her wanted some wine to stay happy and offered her wine to get drunk.
However, the complainant saw some sperm on her pants every day in the morning but never asked Mabudo about the issue for the three weeks they stayed in Shamva.
The two then moved to Westgate, where Mabudo wanted to perform a cleansing ceremony again for three weeks. Mabudo kept on giving the complainant wine and had sexual intercourse with her without her consent.
The matter came to light after the complainant eloped with another man and Mabudo went to confront the complainant’s husband and threatened him to leave his wife.
It is understood that the man and the complainant went for a scan and the pregnant woman showed that she was eight months pregnant and this did not tally with the days of her husband.
The complainant’s husband then told the complainant to go to Mabudo’s place.
This is when the complainant made a police report at Epworth Police Station alleging that she was raped as she did not recall any day having sexual intercourse with Mabudo but only saw sperms on her private part and pant during the days when she was moving with him.
