A self-styled apostolic church prophet in Odzi did the unthinkable and resultantly sparked controversy when he hired a woman to strip and appear at a fellow villager’s doorstep, imitating the howling cries of a hyena.
The bizarre stunt was aimed to demonstrating the village clairvoyant’s alleged supernatural ability to apprehend a witch.
The matter, which happened last Thursday, came to light when Josephine Machada (26) appeared before Mutare magistrate, Ms Ivy Musavengana last Friday, facing charges of public indecency as defined in Section 77 (1) (b) of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act, Chapter 9:23.
Ms Sharon Chibvongodze prosecuted.
According to the State’s case, Machada went to the Mutambashora homestead in Village J1 of Chiwere Resettlement in Odzi around 4am wearing a skin tight with a red loin cloth wrapped around her waist.
Machada was allegedly holding a goat horn covered with black fur, and began howling like a hyena.
The court heard that Mutambashora opened his bedroom door to investigate the source of the hyena-like sound, and that was when he saw the half-naked Muchada holding the goat horn.
Mutambashora reported the matter to the police, who reacted swiftly and arrested Machada.
Machada, from Chaibva area in Mutungagore Village under Chief Makoni, in her submission to the court, stated that she was instructed by Madzibaba Lai (Lionel Mundopa) to go to Lazarus Mutambashora’s homestead in the wee hours of Thursday morning.
After a keen observation of the accused’s testimony, Ms Musavengana ruled that the court will proceed to employ the Mental Health Act to assess Machada’s mental state and ascertain her level of normalcy.
The Mental Health Act is designed to balance individual rights with the need to protect the society. It provides guidelines for the assessment, treatment, and rehabilitation of individuals with mental health issues.
In essence, the court wants to assess Machada’s level of normalcy to decide whether she was in control of her faculties when she committed the alleged offence.
This evaluation will help the court determine the best course of action and ensure that Machada’s rights are protected.
She will be back in court next Friday.
However, police further investigations into the matter led to the arrest of the 25-year-old Lionel Mundopa (Madzibaba Lai), who was found in possession of a tortoise.
Mundopa, of SB Romsley Farm in Nyazura, also appeared before Mutare magistrate, Ms Perseverance Makala last Friday to answer charges relating to the contravention of the Wildlife Act that deals with control of hunting, removal from one place to the other and sale of live animals without permit.
Ms Talent Myamuziwa prosecuted.
Mundopa was subsequently found guilty and sentenced to four months’ imprisonment.
However, two months were suspended for one year on condition that he does not commit a similar offence, while the other two months were also suspended on condition of performing community service at Nyamidzi Clinic in Odzi. Manica Post
