Magistrate suffers blackout before sentencing rapist to 40 years

There was drama at Chinhoyi regional court last week when magistrate Never Katiyo got stuck to his crown chair and suffered a temporary blackout in a suspected case of juju (muti use) as he delivered judgement against a 38-year-old man accused of raping his teenage maid three times.

The rapist, Willard Chimanikire, according to the NewsDay, was eventually slapped with a 40-year prison term after being convicted of raping his 15-year-old housemaid sometime in February 2013.

"While in the process of delivering judgment, Katiyo paused as if to take a breather, but the situation got worse as he then failed to read his own hand writing prompting him to request prosecutor Mercy Ndingadii to call for an adjournment," according to the report.

"As if that was not enough, Ndingadii called for silence in court to enable the magistrate to stand up and take a break, but to everyone's surprise, Katiyo remained seated.

"The prosecutor repeated the call for all to rise in court two more times, but Katiyo would not manage to stand up.

According to the report, the magistrate simply stared at the gallery as the effect of the alleged juju was taking its toll on him.