Rapist begs court to hang him

A 31-year-old Chivi serial rapist and self-proclaimed member of the Satanic world yesterday stunned the Masvingo Regional Court after he begged the presiding magistrate to pass a death sentence on him after admitting to 10 counts of rape.

Charles Magombedze of Chikova Village in Madzivire communal lands, faces several counts of murder, attempted murder and house-breaking and theft.

He said it was better for him to die than to remain possessed by evil spirits he could not exorcise.

Magombedze stunned the courtroom that was filled with people eager to follow proceedings, by demanding that he be hanged after confessing to having committed more than 10 cases of rape dating back to last year.

There was to be further drama in the packed courtroom after one of Magombedze's victims fainted while narrating her ordeal.

Regional magistrate Mrs Dambudzo Malunga convicted Magombedze on eight counts of rape on his own plea of guilty and will sentence him today.

Magombedze was once jailed in South Africa for rape and murder before being released in 2016.

Mrs Malunga remanded him in custody for sentencing.

The prosecutor Mrs Mukai Mutumhe told the court that Magombedze deserved to be slapped with a maximum of 20 years sentence for each rape case he committed.
 
Agreed facts were that Magombedze raped a woman in Chitembe Village in Madzivire, before raping a school child at Chibaya High School near Bondolfi Mission in June last year.

In the same month, he raped another woman who was doing laundry along Tugwi River in Chivi.

In October the same year, Magombedze raped another woman, who was on her way to church at Nyambi Village near Mhiti Shopping Centre in Chivi before again raping a police constabulary's wife at Jochomi Village in Madyangove communal lands in the same district. Magombedze then raped a 14-year-old girl, who was looking for cattle along Tugwi River in January this year, before raping another woman after waylaying her at Charumbira Farm near Bhuka Business Centre in Masvingo Rural District.

In the same month, he also raped a child he found sleeping in a hut at Jeka Village in Masvingo Rural District and raped another woman after threatening her near Stephene Business Centre along the Masvingo-Beitbridge Highway.

Magombedze raped another woman in a garden at Rukanda Farm in the same month after hitting her with a brick, and he raped another one after finding her in a garden along Tugwi River.

The serial rapist handcuffed and raped another woman at Shokoni Business Centre, before raping another one at Razi Business Centre, both in Chivi.
 
Magombedze also faces unlawful entry and theft charges after he unlawfully entered a house in Chikova Village, Chivi, and stole an amplifier and groceries. He also stands accused of stabbing a woman five times, but failed to rape her after she managed to flee.

Magombedze allegedly confessed to being a member of a Satanic cult and raping using unprotected sex to breed the next Satanic generations.

He also allegedly led police to a mountain in Chikova Village where two solar panels, Netsai Ndlovu's passport, a brown wig and Memory and Priscilla Matsaure's birth certificates were recovered.

Also found at the mountain were a hacksaw, Samsung phone and two pairs of scissors, a machete and a pair of handcuffs, together with a Nokia 5210, an amplifier, universal charger and a slasher.