Kabwe prophet accused of rape denies charge

Anthony Musoka, who is facing one count of rape and was recently found with a case to answer, denied raping the woman when he opened his defence before Lusaka-based resident magistrate Jennifer Bwalya.
The accused told Ms Bwalya that since God had given him a gift of prophecy, he had assisted a lot of people by casting out evil spirits including those possessed with Satanism using anointing oil, milk and coarse salt.
He admitted having prayed for the woman and that in the course of prayers, the demons manifested and she fell down.
“Your honour, I deny the charge because all I did was to pray for the woman and I remember very well that after praying for her, I saw in my spirit that she was carrying something heavy on her back.
“She fell down and a male voice said we are now going, we did not know that God is powerful, we have been burnt,“ he said.
Musoka said while praying for the husband to the woman, he saw that the man was made to eat meat in his sleep, while he was a child which had contributed to his illness.
During trial, the woman told the magistrate that on March 14, this year, she travelled to Kasavasa area to see the prophet who was in the company of another person for prayers.
She said she wanted personal prayers because she was experiencing prolonged menstrual cycles.
She said when she arrived in Kasavasa, she found a lot of people who were waiting to be attended.
Musoka told her that she needed to bring with her clothes, a chicken, body lotion, K10, and a 2.5 litre empty container.
She said Musoka also asked her to cut off the middle toe of the chicken and put the dripping blood in a container.
When they got to the field, he made her to kneel, while holding the chicken.
She said the prophet later poured the blood-water on her and started praying for her.
To her surprise, she said, Musoka pinned her to the ground and raped her.