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PASTOR HELD FOR RAPE OF PUPIL DURING PRAYER SESSIONS

27/06/2024 18:31:00 Kwanele Dlamini

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MBABANE – A pastor has been arrested for allegedly raping a 19-year-old pupil several times during prayer sessions.

The clergyman is alleged to have done this at the homestead of the teenager’s aunt, where he preached on Thursday nights. Sometimes he would allegedly rape her in front of her younger brother. He also allegedly raped the pupil in a thicket at Buhleni, where there was a church service. *Pastor Musa reportedly threatened to shoot *Nomsa if she ever reported him for raping her. He also allegedly induced fear in her by telling her that he had special powers and would know if she reported him. The pastor is alleged to have made the same threats to the children’s family members if they ever reported him. The man of the cloth was reportedly feared in the area and by the church members.

Investigators said the children’s aunt soiled herself when they mentioned the pastor’s name during their investigations. The aunt is said to have made it clear to the investigators that she was afraid of being asked about the pastor, such that the police had to come to her home twice.

Custody

Pastor Musa is currently in custody and he is fighting to be released on bail. The Crown is opposed to his bail application. He is facing charges under the Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Act 15/2018 and assault. The investigating officer, Detective Thando Dlamini, who is based at Pigg’s Peak Police Station, submitted that the pastor came into contact with the complainants, Nomsa and her younger brother, through a church ministry in the area. Dlamini said Pastor Musa attended Thursday night church services at the homestead of the children’s aunt. The aunt was staying at the homestead alone and asked Nomsa and her brother to assist her by cleaning the homestead before the church services were held at her place.

The pastor, according to the investigator, came for the church services on Thursday night, stayed at the homestead until morning, when he would then leave. The children’s aunt requested the children to stay with her after the pastor resided at her homestead on a fulltime basis. “The applicant (pastor) started molesting the girl child at the homestead of G*** around August 2023, wherein he asked her for water and when she brought it to his room, he demanded that she comes into the bed he was sleeping in. “The complainant resisted and the applicant’s demands were more forceful and he sexually violated the complainant who was still shocked and traumatised by the applicant’s actions,” said the detective.

Problems

He also submitted that this was the start of Nomsa’s problems, as the pastor would allegedly rape her almost every day, except when she was on her monthly period. “He would not only sexually violate the child, but would also physically assault her extensively. The applicant would get a chance to rape the complainant when G*** left early for the fields in the morning before she (Nomsa) went to school. “The situation was so severe that the complainant lost weight drastically and her grades at school dropped for the worst. The complainant could not concentrate in class, such that some of her teachers were worried about her and kept asking if everything was alright at home.

“She would always respond to the affirmative, because she was afraid that the applicant would kill her if she ever reported him. The applicant would rape the complainant at every given opportunity that he had,” the detective further submitted. At one point, according to the investigator, he raped her in a bushy area around Buhleni when they were attending a church service. He is alleged to have also raped her at the market stalls before Buhleni town. “The ordeal continued when they were back at G***’s house and at all this times, the applicant would rape the complainant without using a condom. The applicant is a cunning and manipulative individual, who brainwashed the complainant that he has special powers and he would know when she reports or tells anyone about her ordeal.

“Secondly, the applicant had a gun, which he would carry around and he threatened that he would kill anyone, including the victim’s family members if they were ever to report him. The applicant also threatened to shoot them if they were ever to report him to anyone.” Dlamini also informed the court that the pastor was not only aggressive to the complainant, but to her younger brother as well. He submitted that the pastor allegedly assaulted the brother, so severely over petty things, such that at one point he hit him with a fist and banged him against the wall and mirrors. “He had bruises on the forehead and all over his body. At other times, he assaulted him with cables and an assortment of weapons at his disposal. “The evidence is that the applicant would rape the complainant right in front of her brother without any care in the world. The applicant’s actions did not go along with the assertion that he was pastor as he was known in the area.”

Better

The investigator told the court that Pastor Musa was better off in custody until his trial was finalised. “I submit that both children and adults are not safe with the applicant roaming the streets and it would be in the best interest of society to keep the applicant under lock-and-key, until his trial is concluded. “He also manipulated G***, such that she would do anything he asked without questioning it. G*** is also afraid of the applicant and didn’t know how to chase him away from her homestead as he acted like he owned it,” submitted Dlamini.
The investigator said the evidence against the applicant was overwhelming and the likelihood that he may be convicted was high, which may entice him to flee the jurisdiction of the court. The matter is pending in court. *Not real names to protect survivor.