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Mashudu Netsianda, Senior Court Reporter

A GWANDA inyanga who allegedly raped and impregnated a 14-year-old girl under the guise of cleansing her of evil spirits, has approached the High Court challenging the dismissal of his application for discharge by a local regional magistrate.

Dumezweni Sumbani (46) of Spitzkop suburb through his lawyers Dube and Associates, filed an application for review at the Bulawayo High Court citing the presiding magistrate, Mr Mark Dzira and the State as respondents

In his grounds of review, Sumbani said the lower court misdirected itself by dismissing his application for discharge, arguing that the magistrate erred by failing to consider the departure of the witnesses from their previous story. He argued that the testimonies of State witnesses were full of inconsistencies and lies.

“The court misdirected itself when it assumed that it was the duty of the accused person to prove his innocence and gave more weight to the State case whose evidence was stuck with inconsistencies from its witnesses,” argued Sumbani’s lawyers.

According to papers before the court, on September 26 last year, the complainant was sleeping in the lounge naked with a blanket covering her while Sumbani was in his bedroom.

Sumbani went to the lounge and woke the complainant up under the guise that he wanted to apply some medicine on her back as a way of cleansing her of evil spirits.

The accused person lowered his pair of trousers and bent behind the girl before allegedly raping her. After committing the offence, Sibanda warned the girl against telling anyone about the incident.

The matter came to light in January this year when the complainant’s aunt became suspicious after she noticed changes in the girl’s physical body features. 

She quizzed the complainant who revealed that she had been raped. A report was made to the police leading to Sumbani’s arrest.

In his defence, Sumbani said on the fateful day, the complainant had disappeared from the house and returned late in the night.

“When she returned the spirit mediums stated that she was dirty and should be cleansed of evil spirits and the cleansing was conducted by elderly women,” he said.

Sumbani also claimed that he was being fixed by the complainant’s parents who are fabricating the story to avoid paying a beast which they owe him for conducting a cleansing ceremony. – @mashnets