Prophet sneaks away from a funeral to rape teenage maid

A self-proclaimed Zaka prophet sneaked away from a funeral, leaving behind his wife and returned home to allegedly rape a teen maid last week.

Dickson Chikono told the maid that she had a bad spell on her which he wanted to remove and ordered the girl to take off her clothes before rubbing her whole body with some salt. He then allegedly raped the girl once.

Chikono, a Zviratidzo Apostolic church prophet has appeared at Masvingo Magistrates Court facing rape charges.

The state said Chikono and his wife had hired the 16-year-old girl as a child minder as they wanted to attend a funeral.

Prosecutor Frank Chirairo told the court that Chikono and his wife left for the funeral after the complainant agreed to take care of their three children. But the accused returned home the following day without his wife and asked if the complainant could prepare some food for him since he was hungry.

After eating, it was alleged that the accused ordered the complainant to take a packet of salt and follow him to a nearby river where he claimed he wanted to cleanse the girl of evil spirits that were haunting her.

Chikono allegedly said the evil spirits had been casted on the girl by her grandmother. When they reached the river the accused allegedly forced the complainant to strip naked and started to rub salt upon her body before asking the girl to sit down for the salt to "penetrate" her skin.

After a short while the accused dragged the complainant to a nearby bush where he raped her once. The complainant reported the sexual attack to her mother who made a report to the police.

The accused pleaded not guilty before magistrate Esther Muremba and the case continues.