PROBE - The Criminal Investigation Directorate (CID) has started investigating a Kigali City senior pastor over alleged sexual harassment of female members of his church congregation.

Police Spokesman, Inspector Willy Marcel Higiro said on Sunday that Pastor Charles Murenzi, of Shining Light Church, has a case file which the CID is scrutinising.
"The CID has started investigating those allegations to establish whether they are authentic,” Higiro said

Murenzi is a senior pastor and deputises his wife, Jolly, at the Shining Light Church in Gakingiro, a Kigali City suburb.

Last month, an eighteen year-old girl (names withheld) recorded a statement with Rose Iribagiza, an assistant inspector of police in charge of gender based violence at CID, alleging that Murenzi sexually harassed her when his wife was away.

The CID, Higiro said, would summon whoever is mentioned in the case before the file is sent to Prosecution.

The girl claims that Murenzi, her onetime pastor, locked her up in his office in 2004 and tried to undress her forcefully, an act that prompted a fight.

She also alleges that her colleagues attempted to force a cover-up of  the incident to protect the image of the church.

Her shocking accusations have since put the credibility of born-again churches into bad light.

The Pentecostal Church members have also demanded full probe into the lifestyle of the embattled pastor.

Murenzi dismisses the allegations but has refused to speak publicly.
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