A RUSAPE teenager was caught stark nɑkǝd as he was allegedly rɑp!ng a five-year-old girl in a Rusape pentecostal church recently. The 16-year-old suspect, who cannot be named since he is also a minor, was allegedly caught red-handed performing the sinful act by a student pastor, Mr Kudakwashe Mutangi.

The suspect had some photographs of him taken at the crime scene before being surrendered to Rusape Central Police Station.

The scene of the sordid act was a local church building which is under construction, adjacent a popular watering hole. Rusape District acting police spokesperson, Sergeant Theresa Maruza said she wanted to get finer details on the case before commenting.

However, a police source who spoke on condition of anonymity said investigations are in progress.

“It is true that the case was reported here. I think they are doing due diligence because there is a procedure that has to be followed when dealing with minor accused persons.

“The liberty of the minor takes precedence and under the circumstances, the police cannot detain the suspect in custody. The suspect was therefore released into the custody of his parent or guardian,” said the police source.

The Manica Post also has in its possession photographs of the suspect and his victim at the crime scene.

Pastor Mutangi said he had gone to the church with a colleague for an afternoon prayer, only for him to bump into the teenager as he was performing the evil act.

Pastor Mutangi said the suspect attempted to flee through an open window while nɑkǝd, but they quickly restrained him. He said they rushed to grab the suspect’s clothes to cow him off. A used c0nd0m was retrieved from the scene.

“We passed through one of our churches in Vengere for an afternoon prayer session, but we were sh0cked to come face-to-face with the suspect rɑp!ng the little girl in the church. The suspect was completely nɑkǝd and was busy in the act when we entered the building,” he said.

“He tried to jump through the window, but we ordered him to stop. I rushed to grab his clothes, which were by the corner, so that he could not run away nɑkǝd,” said Pastor Mutangi.

“This is a place of worship and it was disrespectful for the suspect to ƨǝxuɑlly abuse the defenceless victim in the church. There was a used c0nd0m with sǝmǝn by the window seal,” he said.

The clergy said he called the resident pastor who used his car to ferry the suspect and the victim to Rusape Central Police station for further management.

“We reported the matter to the police for further investigations, and it emerged that the little girl stays with her granny. From the look of things, this could be the tip of an iceberg,” he said.

— Manica Post