There was drama at the Harare Magistrates Court yesterday when an 18-year old-man, accused of stealing items from motor vehicles during a church service in the city, bleated like a goat, to the amazement of court officials and members of the public.
Tinashe Makuza, who was said to be of no fixed aboard, had his court proceedings conducted outside the court house while he lay in the back of a police pick-up truck. Court officials struggled to come to terms with what was before them.Harare magistrate Vongai Muchuchuti remanded Makuza in custody to July 8 after prosecutor Sebastian Mutizirwa opposed bail on the basis that the suspect needed to be attended to by doctors.
Prior to the court proceedings, police officers who were present told The Standard that Makuza's case was very unusual.
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| Church Thief Bleats Like Goat |
"He was taken to hospital on two occasions and the doctors said he was well. But just after walking out of the hospital, he started convulsing and bleating like a goat while continuously frothing at the mouth," said one of the officers.
"He is not pretending as you can see. This is real and possibly it has something to do with African juju."
According to court papers, on Thursday last week, Makuza was at Faith World Ministries in Belvedere where he allegedly stole a car battery from a parked Mercedes Benz after breaking a window.
He proceeded to a Mitsubishi Chariot where he stole another car battery, but was later disturbed when he broke into a Toyota vehicle whose owner was sleeping inside.
Makuza then took to his heels but was pursued by members of the church who apprehended him before he could jump the precast wall into another property. Two batteries were recovered.
The State alleges, prior to stealing from vehicles at the church, Makuza had broken into two vehicles at Prince Edward School on two different occasions where he walked away with a wheel spanner, car battery, front coil springs and stabiliser links and was not caught.
However, his luck ran out on Thursday last week when he stole from vehicles at the church premises.
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