A 34-year-old woman who was allegedly raped by an Agape Healing Church Ministry pastor from Cunningham told the Suva High Court today that she was told by the pastor that he had to have sex with her to drive out a curse.
Waisake Tulavu is accused of raping two women in his church and sexually assaulting another woman.
Tulavu has pleaded not guilty to four counts of rape and one count of sexual assault.
He allegedly committed the offences on five different occasions which were between 11th May to 15th September 2018.
The woman who was the first prosecution witness today told the court that Tulavu came to her village in Tailevu in 2018 to pray over her husband's uncle who was a stroke patient. She says her husband's aunt then came and asked her and her husband if they would also like to be prayed over as she could not conceive after marriage.
The 34-year-old woman says that she had a belief that there is a curse in her family as all her other siblings who got married could not conceive as well. She says they agreed to get prayed over by the pastor however Tulavu told her to come over to his home in Cunningham in order to be prayed over.
The woman further told the court that she believed in the pastor that he would heal her as he had been healing others.
She says when she went to Pastor Tulavu’s house the following week, he told her that she needs to have sex with another man in order to conceive. The woman said the pastor had told her not to have sex with her husband because they were both cursed.
The woman says the pastor then told her to undress herself and he allegedly raped her, as he had said that the holy spirit had spoken to him and he has to deliver her.
She said the next morning, the pastor told her that she had to have sex with another pastor to be delivered again.
The trial continues in the Suva High Court.
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