MASVINGO - A 33 year-old Roman Catholic Priest who allegedly raped a 17 year-old girl was last week in court to answer charges of rape.
Victor Ngorima allegedly raped the girl when she was working for him. He later asked the girl to marry him in an attempt to cover the assault. Ngorima appeared before Masvingo magistrate Walter Chikwanha last week and was remanded out of custody to December 10. The court heard that sometime in August this year, the clergyman employed the 17 year-old girl as a maid. The following month there was a party at the church and the maid was asked to help prepare and serve food for the guests.
When she knocked at the priest’s door to advise him that the time was ready for him to go to the party, he asked her in and raped her once. He threatened to fire her if she reported the offence to anyone and further promised not to do it again. The girl did not report the case. In October the priest raped the girl again and proposed marriage to her, professing to be in love with her. The girl made a report to Masvingo provincial police victim friendly unit while the priest was in Mutare for a church meeting. The Catholic priest was represented by Isaiah Muzenda of Muzenda and Partners Legal Practitioners.