ONE of the six women allegedly raped by RMG Independent End Time Message Robert Martin Gumbura (51) yesterday told presiding magistrate Hosea Mujaya that the church leader often walked into the bathroom or bedroom while the girls who resided under his care were naked.
PHILLIP CHIDAVAENZI,SENIOR REPORTER
The 29–year–old woman, who was allegedly raped in 2006, said she started living under the care of Gumbura in 2001 in accordance with the church doctrine after her conversion since her parents were “heathens” and were deemed to hinder her spiritual growth.
She said she and other church members were taken to Kadoma to help with the workload at Gumbura’s farm, but was instructed to remain behind and assist the accused’s wife, Chipo Mhlanga, with household chores. Gumbura allegedly offered to pay for her education, clothing and food in exchange for sex, but she turned him down.
The witness said the bedroom and bathroom doors had no locks and Gumbura would walk in at any time when the girls under his care were bathing or dressing and would take pictures using his phone.
The accused, she added, started regarding her as a renegade.
She said she could, however, not leave the house because she had no money, adding that she was afraid of running away after having witnessed members that had rebelled against Gumbura getting involved in mysterious accidents and dying after having been cursed by the “man of cloth”.
She said her request to go back home and continue with her education after she had completed her “O” Levels was allegedly turned down by Gumbura.
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“He said my desire to further my education was not good because civilisation and education are of the devil,” she said.
She told the court that Gumbura, whom she revered and whose words she considered as the oracles of God, fondled her whenever he got an opportunity while she was at his house.
When she continued to pester him about furthering her education, she said, Gumbura persisted on sleeping with her and told her that she would only be able to go and study nursing at Chitungwiza Central Hospital after she had been invited for an interview if she slept with him.
When she was eventually allowed to go, she was picked up in Harare by Gumbura’s second wife, Queen Bunga, who took her to the pastor’s Greendale house where she would eventually be allegedly raped.
The trial continues today.
