By: Fadeyi Elizabeth, Ajayi Toyyib & Túndé Jr.
I was watching the news on a hot afternoon after an hectic morning. And then what started showing up on my screen was news of the incessant rape cases. I was like. “Oh no, not rape again.” I wondered why this was becoming rampant in our society recently.
The first dialogues I saw on my tabloid were testimony of rape victims.
” I was 16 when I got raped . I felt that was the end of life for me, the truama and shame was just too much to bear,” Grace Paul said tearfully.
Subsequent testimony. “After being death, I was left by the roadside to die, in a pool of blood and so helpless. I felt death could be the only solution.” These were the words of 18-year-old Flora who had been raped while she returned from school.
Now I wonder, what amount of desperation would push a grown man who is likely married to force himself on a little girl? Nowadays, you can’t blame this on indecent dressing.
The highly publicized case of Uwa and Barakat makes this evident. Both are staunch believers who are said to be virgins and chaste.
Rape is a very sensitive subject. The twin to murder in terms of severity. Why would people do this? Is it an avenue to show strength? Is it for some twisted thirst for satisfaction? Perhaps it’s for fetish reasons? These questions started coursing through my mind.
To me and any reasonable person who hears the word rape, we quickly term it as one of the most psychologically traumatizing experiences a woman could go through. It basically robs her of a sense of worth or womanly strength.
Let me shed more light on Barakat’s case. She was allegedly erased and slaughtered on Tuesday, June 2, 2020, in Akinyele Oyo state. The deceased was only 18 years of age, she was the only hope of her family. She was a student who showed a certain amount of promise in her field. HBApparently, she was trailed home and was assaulted just as she prepared to take her bath. It wasn’t just a perchance rape. It was premeditated.
However, prior to Barakat’s incident. Something oddly similar had happened in Benin, where Uwaila Omozuwa; a Microbiology student of the University of Benin (union) was attacked in a church of God (RCCG) allegedly by four men. She was raped and battered like an animal. She was then left for dead, something she did three days later after living through hell on earth.
Then there was alleged case of the child that was ganged raped by eleven men someplace in northern Nigeria
This is the worst of all, because not only is there no justification for rape, there’s no justification for sexual attraction to a toddler. This is a recipe of depression in most maidens. This traumatic experience affects their future relationships and their marriage (if they can eventually have one).
Consequently, defiled victims face a variety of trauma and some of them get stigmatized. They could also be sullied with different kinds of diseases or complications like viginal or anal bleeding, HIV/ AIDS, STIs, vaginismus, Nymphomania (hyperactive sexual desire), PTSD, among others.
Silence and fear of reproach mitigate some as they will never be bold enough to share their experience and die in muteness. Some are even cursed with an unwanted pregnancy, rape survivors experience heightened anxiety and fear and tend to self-loathe with misandry (hate of men).
Contemporarily, I won’t say we are currently having a rape galore. I think it’s only rampart because the searchlight is shone on this matter. More so, there’s a chance that 40% of most rape cases are false. This lies have made it so that society seem to shun the actual victims. Then there’s the issue of victimization that makes the sufferer keep mute.
Rape that involves or eventually results in murder of the victim should not be taken with levity by the authorities. It’s the combination of two capital crimes, and the offender should be treated like a terrorist.
Moreover, rape comes in different forms like a phone model. There’s date rape, then gang rape, homosexual rape, reverse gang rape, (multiple women on an unwilling man) then there’s no statutory rape. Why can’t we say no to sexual harassment? Yes, seduction or coercing someone psychologically is also as ill as rape. Molestation is also as bad.
We need to deal with this vice as the evil that it is. Let’s not blame the victim until she’s/he’s to blame. We can’t fault a lady for taking a walk.
A rapist willingly ruins the mind of his victim without mercy. Therefore, he’s not entitled to any sort of mercy whatsoever. The law should never be lenient with them. They should be made to face the consequence of their action.
About The Author
This is indeed an appalling situation in our country and Nation at large