THE pastor of Kabwe accused of defiling a 15-year-old girl of Kapiri Mposhi allegedly administered a mixture of methylated spirit, vinegar and apple max on the victim and other family members during prayers.

Pastor Peterson Zulu of Zion Finger of God church is in police custody awaiting court prosecution. He had gone to pray for the victim and her family with his two-year-old child. Pastor Zulu said his wife died in a road accident and so he always carries the child wherever he goes to conduct prayers.
The victim’s mother said she asked pastor Zulu to pray for her three daughters because they experience severe abdominal pains before menstruation.
She requested that her [own] name be withheld.

“A friend assured me that pastor Zulu was a genuine ‘man of God’ and his prayers work,” she narrated. Her husband was away. “He made us [mother, three daughters, aged 15 (the victim), 21 and 25 and a son, 13] to drink a concoction of methylated spirit, apple max and vinegar. The drink made us feel dizzy and very weak when we first had the prayers.

“The following day he gave us a lot of the concoction but I did not drink. It’s my three daughters who drank it, and after that, they were very weak and they were even failing to walk or stand. They had no strength,” she said as her daughters agreed with her.

Around 03:30 hours of that night, she heard her eldest daughter shout for help. She rushed to the bedroom only to find the pastor in a confused state.
The victim does not remember being defiled. But the elder sister claimed despite being weak, she saw the pastor defiling the girl.
She [the older sister, 21] said probably the concoction did not affect her too much because she vomited before going to bed.

“As I was breastfeeding my child, the room was quiet. When I looked up, I saw the pastor struggling to zip up his trousers. I shouted for help, but I was too weak to grab him.”
“My sister [who was unconscious] had no pant and when my mother checked her, signs that she had been defiled were there.” “The pastor then stormed out of the bedroom and he quickly picked up his baby and dashed out of the house,” the sister said. But their mother was determined not to let the pastor run away.

She asked him to co-operate or a mob would descend on him. Some neighbours then helped take the suspect to the police.  The mother, who is still in shock, wants justice to prevail.