However where a woman is convicted of making a false rape report at most they get away with a fine and hardly imprisonment. One does not even need to be a cleric to feel the intense societal disdain suffered by alleged and convicted rapists. The worst part of a rape accusation is the stigma that comes with this tainting allegation. Now here is the Zimbabwean scenario in this regard: where a woman makes false rape claim against a man, the very first thing under normal circumstances is for the accused to be locked straight away pending a court appearance. Law must uphold that which is upright and condemn that which is base. One of the major purposes of law is to meet the ends of justice. There is an apparent injustice, in my view, synonymous with the offence of making a false report to the police, especially in rape cases. Section 180 of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform Act, Chapter 9:23) clearly states that any person who supplies false information to a public authority shall be guilty of an offence and liable to a level 5 fine or imprisonment for a period of up to six months. This on its own is deemed a serious offence under Zimbabwean criminal law. Not only did she withdraw the damning accusations, she has also openly told the courts that she made a false report to the police against Magaya.
Now that the young woman has withdrawn the grave rape charges against the cleric, it becomes even more of a conundrum. The conversations went viral with the majority unmistakably identifying Magaya’s voice in the recordings. What made the case of this girl curious was her determination initially to have justice done, even going to the extent of releasing recorded telephone conversations of their sexual escapades and places of meeting with the supposed prophet. Cases of sexual misdemeanours against Magaya are common talk. Initially the complainant in the rape matter alleged that she was raped by Magaya in a case that weirdly did not surprise many. Put simply: it’s either Magaya is guilty as previously alleged by the woman or she must face jail for telling malicious lies to the court. There are two things involved and either one is going to come out true and the other false there can’t be any other scenario.
The stated two sides above precisely capture the DNA of the Magaya rape trial. In the same vein, it is immensely wicked for supposed clerics to exercise influence over the weak of the society because they wield power. In my view, it is utterly evil and treacherous for any woman to blackmail and threaten religious figures with damaging accusations for the sole reason that religious leader seek to protect their names from the prying eyes of the media and public. The supposed man of God Walter Magaya has faced a myriad of rape allegations from female congregants both substantiated and unsubstantiated. A lot of legal technical jargon surrounded the case.
#PROPHET W MAGAYA LATEST TRIAL#
Magaya had challenged his indictment for trial at the High Court arguing he cannot be tried over a rape case where the complainant has voluntarily withdrawn the charges. This follows the striking off the roll of his challenge by the Constitutional Court. Finally, the rape trial against Walter Magaya of Prophetic Healing and Deliverance (PHD) ministries which had stalled for a long time will now go ahead.
0 kommentar(er)
