LAWYERS representing clergyman Tapiwa Freddy on his rap_e charge Friday played an audio of a recorded phone call between him and his accuser, which they said showed the two were lovers.

Freddy, the founder of Goodness and Mercy Ministries, denies raping the 33-year-old woman, a radio DJ for the ZBC. The attack allegedly happened at the woman’s Mt Pleasant Heights home on a date in November 2020.

Married Freddy maintains that he had consensual se_x with his accuser, claiming that she only reported him for rap_e when he called time on their affair.

His lawyer Everson Chatambudza played an audio recording in which the alleged victim says during a call: “Shaa, I’m sorry. Ye ropa (about the bleeding) and scratches was just a story to spice up things.”

Chatambudza charged that the alleged victim had told Freddy, who claims powers of prophecy, that she bleeds and has scratched inside her thighs each time they are intimate.

The woman made similar claims in her police statement.

The lawyer said if the audio does not prove that the alleged victim is a liar, it does at least prove that they were in a relationship and quite comfortable to discuss their se_x life.

Under cross examination, the lawyers asked Freddy’s accuser why the statement she gave to the police was different from her testimony in court.

He accused her of fabricating the account, hence the conflicting statements.

The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, admitted leaving out a lot of information in the police statement but insisted that all she said was true.

Said Chatambudza: “There is nothing in your police statement that you tried to stop him from getting into your bedroom. You said (in court) that Freddy entered your bedroom and lay on your bed. Much later you say he stood up and locked the door and put the keys under the pillow.

“This means the door was still unlocked when you came into the bedroom and found the accused lying in bed. Why is it that you never took any action, why did you not leave?”

The woman testified on Wednesday that when she found Freddy in her bed, she sat on a chair in the same room until he grabbed her and threw her on the bed and rap_ed her.

Freddy’s lawyers also said the woman never told police about the Bible verses Freddy allegedly quoted during rap_e, including a line from Ecclesiastes that says “the dead know nothing.” She said Freddy said this while trying to convince her to break her 12-month mourning period for her late husband.

The trial continues on January 13 before Harare magistrate Gloria Takundwa.

– NewZimbabwe

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