The appellant was a religious leader/prophet at By Grace Ministries who was charged with six counts of rape involving four adult female church members during 2015-2016. The State alleged he lured complainants to his prayer house under the guise of spiritual healing and prayers, then had sexual intercourse with them without consent. The trial court acquitted him on counts 3-6 but convicted him on counts 1 and 2 (both involving complainant Sarah Mhere) and sentenced him to 14 years imprisonment on each count (28 years total, 6 years suspended). The complainant testified that the appellant applied lotion to her body and vagina, then told her he wanted to use his sperm to cleanse her and had sexual intercourse with her. She agreed because she believed in his healing powers (he had allegedly cured her HIV infection through prayer). The complaints were made over a year later, only after a radio interview by broadcaster Tilda Moyo who encouraged the complainants to report to police. The appellant denied the sexual intercourse and claimed the allegations were fabricated after an acrimonious church split.
The appeal against conviction on counts 1 and 2 was upheld. The convictions were quashed. Given the convictions were set aside, the appeal against sentence fell away and required no determination.
Consent to sexual intercourse is not vitiated under s 69(1)(a) of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act where a complainant voluntarily submits to sexual intercourse based on religious faith and belief in spiritual healing, in the absence of evidence of violence, threats of violence, intimidation or unlawful pressure. A complainant's belief in the spiritual or healing powers of a religious leader, and voluntary participation in sexual acts for perceived spiritual benefit, constitutes valid consent where the complainant understood the nature of the sexual act and was not misled about what was occurring. Evidence of complaint in sexual offences is inadmissible where it was not made voluntarily at the earliest opportunity but was instead suggested or induced by a third party after significant delay. An appellate court must set aside a conviction where the trial court failed to find that the accused's defence was reasonably possibly true, constituting a gross misdirection resulting in a miscarriage of justice.
The court made important obiter observations: (1) In cases of rape arising from vitiated consent, the State must make the basis of the charge clear in the State outline for the benefit of the accused and the court; (2) Trial magistrates should constantly refer to statutory definitions of crimes and restate essential elements in judgments, particularly in cases where consent is not vitiated by evident violence; (3) Many religious practices such as certain methods of spiritual healing are regarded by society as unconscionable, repulsive and abhorrent, and involve gross invasion of personal security and dignity, but cannot be adequately addressed through judicial activism because: (a) criminal law is now codified leaving no room for judicial activism; (b) victims of deception are difficult to convince they are being fooled; (c) malpractices are carried out in secrecy with victim complicity; (d) perpetrators resist scrutiny relying on constitutional protection of freedom of religion; (4) It would be more beneficial to empower women to make informed decisions before submitting to potentially harmful practices; (5) The legislature should consider establishing an independent commission (similar to South Africa's Commission for the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Cultural, Religious and Linguistic Communities) to regulate churches and protect rights of persons in religious communities, as people of faith are more likely to accept measures from such a body.
This case is significant in Zimbabwean criminal law as it clarifies the boundaries of vitiated consent in rape cases involving religious practices and spiritual healing. It establishes that: (1) Voluntary submission to sexual intercourse based on religious belief in spiritual healing, even if misguided, does not constitute rape where there is no evidence of intimidation, unlawful pressure, or fraudulent misrepresentation about the nature of the act under s 69 of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act; (2) The case distinguishes cases of systematic religious manipulation and indoctrination (like S v Gumbura) from cases where a complainant makes an autonomous decision based on religious faith; (3) It reinforces strict requirements for admissibility of evidence of complaint in sexual offences - complaints must be voluntary, made without undue delay, and not the result of leading or inducing questions; (4) The judgment highlights tensions between individual autonomy, freedom of religion (s 60 of the Constitution), and protection from harmful practices; (5) It emphasizes that where harmful religious practices are concerned, legislative intervention and regulatory mechanisms may be more appropriate than judicial activism, particularly given the codification of criminal law in Zimbabwe. The case raises important questions about the limits of consent in contexts involving power imbalances, religious belief, and practices that may be regarded as exploitative.