Nigerian pastor is guilty of rape after eight years in South African prison

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Nigerian pastor is guilty of rape after eight years in South African prison

After eight years in jail, a Nigerian TV broadcaster is accused of raping a young woman in a South African church.

Timothy Omotoso denied 32 charges in a live trial and attracted great interest across the country.

In 2018, a witness told the court that she had run a church in Port Elizabeth when she was 14 years old.

When the verdict was made on Wednesday, the judge who presided over the trial said Mr Omotoso was acquitted because prosecutors corrected the case.

The South African National Prosecution Agency (NPA) had a similar assessment, saying that “the former prosecutor in the case was incorrect and the defendant was not fully interrogated by the state.”

The NPA said it will now “consider its legal choice.”

Mr. Omotoso told the media that he thanked God for his judgment.

You also find Lusanda Sulani and Zikiswa Sitho who were discovered at the same time are innocent.

Mr Omotoso tried to leave the country in 2017 and was arrested at the airport in 2017.

His trial was the first famous rape case live broadcast in a country where sexual violence was rampant.

The hearings attracted great interest and raised difficulties regarding the rights of victims, impartiality and whether to serve justice by having a television camera in court.

According to South African media News24, after Wednesday’s verdict, Mr Omotoso will be deported back to Nigeria.