The bizarre
stunt was aimed to demonstrate the village clairvoyant’s alleged supernatural
ability to apprehend a witch.
The matter,
which happened last Thursday, came to light when Josephine Machada (26)
appeared before Mutare magistrate, Ms Ivy Musavengana last Friday, facing
charges of public indecency as defined in Section 77 (1) (b) of the Criminal
Law (Codification and Reform) Act, Chapter 9:23.
Ms Sharon
Chibvongodze prosecuted.
According to
the State’s case, Machada went to the Mutambashora homestead in Village J1 of
Chiwere Resettlement in Odzi around 4am wearing a skin tight with a red loin
cloth wrapped around her waist.
Machada was
allegedly holding a goat horn covered with black fur, and began howling like a
hyena.
The court heard
that Mutambashora opened his bedroom door to investigate the source of the
hyena-like sound, and that was when he saw the half-naked Muchada holding the
goat horn.
Mutambashora
reported the matter to the police, who reacted swiftly and arrested Machada.
Machada, from
Chaibva area in Mutungagore Village under Chief Makoni, in her submission to
the court, stated that she was instructed by Madzibaba Lai (Lionel Mundopa) to
go to Lazarus Mutambashora’s homestead in the wee hours of Thursday morning.
After a keen
observation of the accused’s testimony, Ms Musavengana ruled that the court
will proceed to employ the Mental Health Act to assess Machada’s mental state
and ascertain her level of normalcy.
The Mental
Health Act is designed to balance individual rights with the need to protect
the society. It provides guidelines for the assessment, treatment, and
rehabilitation of individuals with mental health issues.
In essence, the
court wants to assess Machada’s level of normalcy to decide whether she was in
control of her faculties when she committed the alleged offence.
This evaluation
will help the court determine the best course of action and ensure that
Machada’s rights are protected.
She will be
back in court next Friday.
However, police
further investigations into the matter led to the arrest of the 25-year-old
Lionel Mundopa (Madzibaba Lai), who was found in possession of a tortoise.
Mundopa, of SB
Romsley Farm in Nyazura, also appeared before Mutare magistrate, Ms
Perseverance Makala last Friday to answer charges relating to the contravention
of the Wildlife Act that deals with control of hunting, removal from one place
to the other and sale of live animals without permit.
Ms Talent
Myamuziwa prosecuted.
Mundopa was
subsequently found guilty and sentenced to four months’ imprisonment.
However, two
months were suspended for one year on condition that he does not commit a
similar offence, while the other two months were also suspended on condition of
performing community service at Nyamidzi Clinic in Odzi. Manica Post
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