Africa-Press – South-Africa. One of the 49 witnesses taking the stand against rape-accused televangelist Pastor Timothy Omotoso broke down in tears in the Eastern Cape High Court in Gqeberha on Tuesday as she recalled her alleged rape which started when she was 14 years old.
Cheryl Zondi, now 27, testified about her experiences between 2010 and 2015, allegedly at the hands of Omotoso.
The 65-year-old Nigerian pastor and leader of the Jesus Dominion International Church faces 63 charges ranging from rape and trafficking in persons for sexual purposes to sexual assault and racketeering.
Omotoso, carrying a bible, appeared alongside his co-accused, Lusanda Sulani and Zukiswa Sitho.
He was arrested by the Hawks in April 2017, but his trial has faced numerous delays, including a different prosecutor being appointed as well as a different judge.
This follows the previous presiding officer, Mandela Makaula, recusing himself from the case in early 2019 after it came to light Zondi stayed in a guesthouse where Makaula’s wife had business interests.
Judge Irma Schoeman is the current presiding officer in the case.
Zondi struggled to wipe away the tears streaming down her face as she told the court Omotoso would summon her to his room at his residence in Durban, where he allegedly forced her to perform oral sex on him.
She said the sequence of events were always the same: Omotoso would summon her, she would close his bedroom door behind her, remove her clothing and join him in bed where he was always under the covers.
“I would have to massage him, starting from his feet, moving over his legs and thighs to his private parts,” Zondi testified.
She said Omotoso would tell her to “do things with her mouth and tongue” but since she was still young, she was confused as to what exactly that meant.
“I realised afterwards he wanted my mouth and his genitals to connect.”
Zondi added when he had enough of that, he would have her lie down on the bed naked, while he was only naked from the waist down.
“He would then lie on top of me and hump against me until he ejaculated. Sometimes, he would place his penis between my legs and other times there would be slight penetration. He would then pray when he was done and still lying on top of me,” she told the court.
“It happened so frequently that my thighs were later red and tender from all the friction.”
Zondi said during two trips to Israel and Nigeria, Omotoso allegedly summoned her to his room every night and the same sequence would follow.
“He would always take the girls with him that were most useful to him. These are the ones that were useful for sex. He called his favourite person to have sex with ‘fire-fire’. That’s what he called me,” she added.
The moment Zondi mentioned “fire-fire”, Omotoso looked at his co-accused and laughed quietly.
She said she was afraid of Omotoso and feared if she said anything about the alleged rape, she would end up dead.
The trial continues.
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