Conviction Christian institutions & contexts Evangelical, Pentecostal, and independent Beitbridge, Matabeleland South, Zimbabwe · 2025

Bishop Chrispen Gomore: culpable-homicide conviction after fatal 'exorcism' flogging

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Disposition and response

Material that narrows or disputes the record

Appellate history

2026-07-14

Appeal dismissed; conviction and 10-year sentence upheld; religious healing rejected as a defence.

Record class

Core record

Evidence status

Convicted

Authority role

bishop of an apostolic/Zion Christian church

Organization

Damasko Zion Christian Church

Archive classification

This is the archive's application of its published inclusion test. The cited record appears below.

Gomore declared two congregants mentally disturbed, confined them, and whipped them for hours during a river 'baptism/exorcism' ritual; one died of cranial trauma. His spiritual authority and the doctrine framing violence as exorcism/healing organized and justified the fatal assault, and the court expressly rejected religious healing as a defence.

Exorcism or deliverance
Pastoral or clerical authority

Evidence structure

Proceedings

2026-07-14 · conviction and appeal — appeal dismissed

Bulawayo High Court, Zimbabwe. The Bulawayo High Court convicted Bishop Chrispen Gomore of culpable homicide (acquitting him of murder) and sentenced him to 10 years; on 14 July 2026 the court dismissed his appeal, ruling that religious healing is not a defence.

Documented coercion mechanisms

exorcism and healing framing of violence
confinement
spiritual authority over congregants

Cited record

Sources

national court reporting leave to appeal disposition 'High Court Rejects ZCC Bishop's Appeal Over Congregant's Death During Exorcism, Says Religious Healing Not an Excuse', NewZimbabwe.com, 14 July 2026.: NewZimbabwe reports the Bulawayo High Court's dismissal of Gomore's appeal, the culpable-homicide conviction and 10-year sentence, and the ruling that religious healing is not a defence.
national newspaper court reporting appellate corroboration 'Zimbabwe: High Court Rejects ZCC Bishop's Appeal Over Congregant's Death During Exorcism', allAfrica.com, 14 July 2026.: allAfrica corroborates the appeal dismissal and the religious-healing-not-a-defence ruling.

Source provenance

Source access and integrity log

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Source and tier basis: https://www.newzimbabwe.com/high-court-rejects-zcc-bishops-appeal-over-congregants-death-during-exorcism-says-religious-healing-not-an-excuse/ Corpus classification: national-court-reporting; evidentiary role: leave-to-appeal-disposition. SHA-256 fed5d7bafdac3a0a0b5da363072e7be4fd005a52c6c508e234e9ace43d005fb1
Retrieval: 2026-07-20 · Preserved; Bound by Fear automated source-preservation ledger
Source and tier basis: https://allafrica.com/stories/202607140064.html Corpus classification: national-newspaper-court-reporting; evidentiary role: appellate-corroboration. SHA-256 05f7c283f04b0c84e31c9f54c2c477cf1a1531f4f674dc0ef433dc3a7c3dba05
Retrieval: 2026-07-20 · Preserved; Bound by Fear automated source-preservation ledger

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