Lesbianism and Satanism allegations have rocked Lydia Chimonyo Girls High School in Chimanimani resulting in one of the reverends at the school being picked up by the police on criminal defamation charges.

Investigations by our news crew revealed that eight pupils have since been expelled from the United Methodist Church-run school. The expulsion of the pupils, which was done in terms of Section Two of Circular Number P35 of 1993, was approved by the acting Manicaland Provincial Education Director, Mr Andrew Chigumira.

Mr Chigumira confirmed the expelling of the pupils and said it was because of their queer behaviour.

“The eight were expelled for wayward behaviour. Their actions were impacting negatively on other pupils and the move was done to bring sanity to the school. Although they were expelled, they are allowed to write examinations. They should make their own arrangements on how they will travel to the school to write the exams,” he said.

The school’s headmistress, Mrs Chinyerere, also confirmed the development but refused to shed more light.

“I have nothing much to say. Whatever documents you have are self-explanatory,” she said.

A letter dated 28 August 2013, written by Mr Chigumira to the Secretary for Education and copied to all provincial education directors, which this paper is in possession of, reads:

“The following pupil (name withheld) was excluded from Lydia Chimonyo Girls’ High School with effect from 3 September 2013. The reason for exclusion is engaging in lesbianism with fellow students. Exclusion approved, but she will be allowed to sit for Ordinal Level final examinations accompanied by a parent or guardian.”

Another letter written by Mrd Chinyerere to the parents of the affected pupils reds:

“I regret to advise you that after careful consideration of the circumstances enumerated below, I have regrettably concluded that your daughter’s behaviour is a serious threat to the maintenance of that (sic) proper standard of conduct, discipline and efficiency which is required at the school. The circumstances leading to the conclusion stated below were: engaging in lesbianism with fellow students.

“In view of this, and with the approval of the Regional Director, I have decided in terms of Section 2 of Circular Number P.35 of 1993 to exclude your daughter (name withheld) from this school with effect from the 3rd of September 2013.”

While the parents of the pupils had accepted the fate of their daughters, things took a dramatic turn recently when a church revival was held at the school were a demon is reported to have manifested itself on one of the pupils (name supplied) and implicated one of the expelled pupils as a Satanist.

United Methodist’s Rev Saphirian Sign, who was picked up for questioning on Monday, presided over the alleged exorcism of the demon. This did not go down well with the parents of the pupil who decided to make a police report against Rev Sign.

“Our daughter is maintaining her innocence and all these lesbian and Satanism allegations are cooked up. She remained steadfast in her testimony during the hearing and we were surprised to receive a letter from the school notifying us about her expulsion from the school. This was done through hearsay evidence from anonymous sources.

“To add salt to the injury, our daughter was accused o Satanism and we decided to engage the police so that justice will prevail. How can they humiliate our daughter like that? She was jeered at when she went to the school to sit for her examinations on Monday. She is more like an outcast. We are told that the school authorities also ordered the destruction of the desk she was using, saying it was associated with Satanism and this is not fair on our daughter,” fumed the girl’s parents in an unsolicited interview.

Deputy Manicaland provincial police spokesperson Assistant Inspector Muzondiwa Clean confirmed the picking up of the pastor.

“Rev Sign is facing criminal defamation charges as defined in Section 96 of the Criminal Law Cordification Act, Chapter 9:23. We gathered that eight pupils were expelled from Lydia Chimonyo Girls’ High School at the beginning of this term. A revival was recently held at the school where a demon allegedly manifested on one of the pupils and it alleged that one of the expelled girls was a Satanist and lesbian. Rev Sign conducted the revival service and she asked all those who had received gifts from the expelled girl to surrender them for burning.

“A total of 10 pupils surrendered different gifts they alleged to have received from the girl. The gifts were burnt in the presence of other pupils. When the girl went to the school on Monday to sit for her O-Level examinations, she was jeered at and humiliated by other pupils, accusing her of being a Satanist.

“Her parents made a report at Cashel Police Station and rev Sign was picked for questioning. Investigations into the matter are in progress,” narrated Asst Insp Clean.