Businessman Wicknell Chivayo's ex wife Sonja Madzikanda and her mother Tabitha will today sleep in prison after a Harare magistrate remanded them in custody for bail ruling on Thursday.

The two appeared before Harare magistrate Nyaradzo Manokore this Wednesday on charges of cyber bullying and harassment.

The State had consented to bail but the presiding magistrate asked them to justify the position after it emerged prosecutors were initially opposing bail as shown by the papers before the court.

Prosecutors had indicated that the two are facing serious charges and were a flight risk.

After their submissions, the magistrate remanded the matter to Thursday for ruling.

The two through their lawyer Rungano Mahuni tried to challenge the court's decision to lock them up saying they had agreed with the State that they would be released.

The State alleges that during Chivayo and Sonja's marriage she unlawfully accessed the his cellphone and downloaded several photographs and videos and shared them with her mother.

The State further alleges that the two used artificial intelligence (AI) to generate photographs purporting that Chivayo once associated with the President of the Republic of South Africa Cyril Ramaphosa.It is the State's case that the two unlawfully published the photographs on various social media platforms and the photographs and videos went viral.

This reportedly caused Chivayo substantial emotional distress and humiliation.

The State said the two acted unlawfully.