‘Bishop’ Manguluti denied bail, reappears before Lilongwe Magistrate Court

Delay-styled ‘Bishop’ Joseph Manguluti, who was arrested for allegedly raping his 23-year adopted daughter, appeared before the Lilongwe Magistrate Cour on Thursday to answer rape charges contrary to Section 132 of the Penal Code.

The court also denied to grant him bail fearing that he might jeopardize the with witnesses.

Manguluti, remanded at Maula Prison, was also scheduled to reappear before the court for the continuation of bail hearing.

“He applied for bail yesterday (Thursday), but the court declined to grant him bail. However, the court is today expected to make a ruling whether to grant him bail or not,” said Lingadzi Police Publicist Benjamin Foster.

He said they completed their investigations that’s the case was committed to court.

“I cannot give more details at the moment, lets wait until the court makes determination on his bail application,” he said.

Manguluti, also a well known musician and master of ceremonies mainly at weddings receptions, allegedly raped the girl on May 15 in her bedroom at their Area 18B residence in Malawi’s administrative capital.

The girl, a fourth year student at one of the colleges in the city, was preparing to take a bath when she met her ordeal.

According to Lingadzi Police, the mother of the house was not around when the ‘man of God’ forced himself on the girl to eat the ‘forbidden fruit’.

The victim reported the incident to the police who issued her a referral letter to Kamuzu Central Hospital for examination. Medical report indicated that the victim had really been sexually attacked.

Manguluti hails from Kalimira Village in Traditional Authority (T/A) Santhe in Kasungu.