By Cleopas Chinyani
REDCLIFF, Zimbabwe – A 33-year-old pastor from Zvishavane was sentenced to 18 years in prison on three counts of aggravated indecent assault Monday after a Kwekwe Regional Magistrate’s Court found him guilty of repeatedly sodomising an 18-year-old congregant.
In a statement by the National Prosecuting Authority of Zimbabwe (NPAZ), the pastor visited the victim’s family home in Redcliff on the night of August 10 and was allowed to sleep over.
Around midnight, the victim awoke to find the accused caressing him.
“When the victim questioned what was happening, the pastor allegedly replied that because he had no facial hair, he was unhappy sharing a bed with a woman,” read the statement in part.
“He then threatened the young man with a forearm, removed his boxer shorts, and assaulted him repeatedly.”
The victim later reported the matter through his aunt, who was confined temporarily by the accused. The aunt managed to alert the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP), leading to the pastor’s arrest.
Under Zimbabwe’s Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act, “aggravated indecent assault” in cases involving male victims is defined as any act involving anal sexual intercourse or other penetration when the perpetrator knows the victim has not consented or realises there is a real risk of nonconsent.
Zimbabwe’s laws criminalise sodomy more broadly: consensual or not, male-to-male sexual acts are criminal in many circumstances under the country’s sodomy statutes and indecency laws.
