The trial of Pastor Timothy Omotoso has made national headlines here in South Africa over the past week. Omotoso is on trial for charges ranging from rape human trafficking, sexual assault and rape. Cheryl Zondi, 22, has spent three grueling days on the stand in the Port Elizabeth High Court intimately detailing her alleged rape at the hands of charismatic televangelist Timothy Omotoso.

Zondi is the first witness in the trial, in which Omotoso and his two co-accused face over 60 charges relating to the alleged kidnapping and trafficking of more than 30 girls and women.
During his cross-examination this week, the defense attorney Peter Daubermann asked Zondi a number of questions which caused Judge Mandela Makaula to intervene, and which many have said were inappropriate.

He asked Zondi why she did not scream and asked her if, by travelling to Durban to see Omotoso, she did not "accept the risk of being raped". This made me recall the disturbing writings of The Watchtower in their publications. The Watchtower teaches that a person raped is considered to have committed fornication if they did not scream and do everything possible to resist, based on a single scripture from Deuteronomy. By far the majority of articles on rape contain the sentiment that if a woman does not do enough to resist she has committed fornication and loses her clean standing with God. In recent years, this attitude has been toned down but continues to persist.

#CherylZondi #Rape #exjw