The panting slowly turns to noise and it increased to shouting, then screaming. The loud noise continue coming from the direction opposite me. I peeped as a curious person but saw nothing. I continued with my chores thinking it was nothing. About a month later, the same voice came again and I was determined to know the cause of the noise. Lo and Behold!!! I can’t belief my eyes; it was Mr. John of the next block forcefully satisfying his ego with the house maid that hot afternoon when everyone has gone in search of daily bread.
Heavens!!! Mr John is a highly respected individual in the society and a core Christian as he posed to be before now Said Iya Dorah (A beans seller in the neighborhood).
It was a rape case and this has been happening to her since she got to Lagos. Record has it that she even aborted a child for Mr. John.
Every day in the dailies, we read series of rape cases which is now the order of the day. There are different stories on rape where some respected people in the community are caught in this act.
Women, girls within the age of 13-17 are mostly victims of rape. The victims keep mute or vacate the premises/community of the incident due to stigmatization, fear of the unknown while, some belief their voice can’t be heard. If this continues, our society won’t be free from rape and other sexual harassment.
Rape shouldn’t be held with levity. It is a type of sexual assault perpetrated against a person without that person’s consent. Rape devalues the victim and it’s a crime of insult and oppression. It stigmatizes the emotions therefore, rapist shouldn’t be left alone. Rapist must be punished because rape is a criminal act.
Rape and other forms of sexual harassment needs serious attention from family and friends, institution, civil society groups, government and international community, if we really want a rape-free society.
Article by Titilayo Olusegun