A PROPHET of Chibombo who violently fondled his aunt’s private parts several times last year claiming he was exorcising “ghosts” that were preventing her from having children now has to prove his innocence in court. Benson Mukonka, 29, is on trial before the Kabwe magistrate’s court for alleged indecent assault.

He is alleged to have committed the offence on October 18 last year. His 39-year-old aunt, Brenda Malombo, on Friday testified before Kabwe magistrate Kelvin Soma that on the fateful day around 14:00 hours, Mukonka in the company of members of his family, came to her house claiming her husband, Cosmas Libusha, had put soil from the grave on her private parts.

Ms Malombo, a farmer of Keembe area in Chief Liteta’s area said among the people who accompanied Mukonka, during the exorcism that went on up 20:00 hours were his grandmother, his sister Clare and Mr Libusha. She said she was surprised by his claims because she was a mother of seven children.

“When I went in the house, they followed me and he started touching my body insisting my husband had put soil in my private parts and that’s why I couldn’t bear children,” Ms Malombo said while facing Mukonka. “When I went into the house, he came behind me and then in front. He pushed his hand in my skirt and pant, and touched my private parts,” she said. She said he did this after removing her chitenge wrapper despite her protesting his manner of exorcisim, but he insisted he had to remove the soil from her womanhood.

Ms Malombo said Mukonka later told other people to leave the house except for her husband and Clare, and he pushed her on a Morris chair. Ms Malombo said Mukonka then mixed water and salt which he sprinkled on her body while repeatedly saying he was Abraham and she was going to have a child again. She said Mukonka later offloaded the substance that remained in a basin on her husband.

“He started sprinkling the water on me while pulling my skirt up and started pulling my pant down but I was also resisting,” an emotional Ms Malombo said. “When he failed to remove the pant, he called my sister-in-law [Clare] and she removed my pant and he spread open my legs and put his hands in my private parts to remove soil from the grave.”

While he was performing his rituals, she said she reminded him that she already had children with the youngest being three years but he did not listen. She said he pushed her on the floor and dug soil from the mud floor of the house which he mixed with water and he gave her to swallow. While she was allegedly being violated, her husband watched in awe at the exorcism that was being performed on his wife.

Ms Malombo said the following day she reported Mukonka and people who accompanied him to the police in Keembe and she was given a medical report. Ms Malombo said she experienced painful private parts after her ordeal and she had to be treated at Liteta Hospital. Trial continues January on 28.