78-year-old
beast feasts on schoolgirl, 13, till she got pregnant......
By Ann Zulu
MOST children have fond childhood memories about
their grandfathers but for 15-year-old Nchimunya (not real name) she has a
terrible recollection.
Nchimunya only recalls horrific nightmares of
frequent sexual abuses by the person who could have been her protector.
It has not been easy for her to come to terms with
the fact that she was defiled and impregnated by her own grandfather, who was
78 years old at the time.
Carrying her baby, Nchimunya sorrowfully narrates
her journey through the valley of depression.
“My life will never be the same again; every day of
my life is like a nightmare, I still can’t believe that the person I looked up
to for protection could do this to me. I wish to have a normal life like other
children, but I don’t think I will ever get it because the images of my grandfather
sleeping with me keep flashing back,” says Nchimumya.
Nchimunya’s parents died while she was very young;
now she has neither a brother nor sister. This is how she recounts her story:
‘‘It all began in 2014 when I was 13 years, when my
mother died. I had no one else to live with, my father died when I was a baby.
I went to live with my grandparents in Shamulonga Village in Kafue district.
‘‘I was so excited because I thought I was in safe hands,
as grandparents are known for spoiling their grandchildren with love and would
do everything possible to give them a good life and future. But little did I
know that the worst was yet to happen.
‘‘Apart from me, my grandparents were also looking
after my two male cousins who were also orphaned and younger than I was. At
first everything was perfect, we all lived happily as a family and I was doing
my 6th grade at a community school then.
‘‘My nightmare started when my grandmother went to
visit one of her daughters who had just given birth on the Copperbelt and left
us (my cousins and I) in the care of my grandfather.
‘‘Grandmother was away for four months and I was the
only girl in the house.
‘‘One fateful night, whilst my cousins were asleep
in the sitting room, I was engulfed with fear and shock when I saw my
grandfather who had never stepped foot into my bedroom seated next to me on the
floor.
‘‘I felt as though I was dreaming, but I realised I
was not when I felt his hands undressing me.
‘‘With fear I cried and tried to scream, but he held
my mouth and threatened that I will die if I screamed or tell anyone about it because
it was tradition that grandfathers have sexual intercourse with their
granddaughters.
‘‘Like a demon-possessed beast, he pounced on me every
night and when I tried to fight back by pushing him away, my weak body could
not sustain the resistance. I was overpowered and he did whatever he wanted to.
‘‘This incestuous sexual abuse went on for some
time, it became a routine and we lived like wife and husband during grandmother’s
absence.
‘‘I was in pain and deep down my heart I cursed him.
Each time he did it I felt more depressed and worthless; I could not believe
that my own grandfather could to have sex with me. However, when night fell, I
was confronted by the hard reality and I could not do anything but to endure
it.
‘‘Two months later, I started noticing some changes
in my body. I usually had severe fatigue, fever and sometimes I would even
vomit, but I never had an idea of what was happening to me because the whole
experience was new to me.
‘‘When grandmother returned, she noticed the changes
on my body, too, but it never clicked her mind that I was pregnant. As days
went by, pregnancy symptoms became more visible and being an elderly woman, grandmother
realised I was pregnant.
‘‘She was very angry; she beat me up and accused me
of sleeping with boys in the village. I tried to open up to her and convince
her that grandfather was sleeping with me when she was away, but she could not
believe me.
‘‘She called me a witch and warned me not to tell anyone;
sometimes she would starve me for some days. I thought she would calm down and
help me get justice, but instead she worsened the situation by suggesting I
abort the pregnancy.
‘‘According to her, I was too young to conceive and
that if I did it would bring disgrace to the family. She only cared about saving herself and the
family from shame; she never cared if I died in the process. She forced me to apply and drink some herbs
for days, but they failed to induce the abortion.
‘‘It was at this moment that my grandparents started
having fights over my pregnancy and my grandfather could shamelessly admit to
my grandmother of having slept with me.
‘‘The pregnancy was kept a secret and I was told I
would die if I told anyone about it because it was taboo. I stopped going to
school and I was banned from interacting with other children or neighbours in
the village.
‘‘Weeks turned into months and I gave birth to a
baby boy.
‘‘Upon giving birth, his evil deeds started catching
up with him, he started acting weird and a few days later he was found dead in
the backyard. He committed suicide after taking some poisonous concoction.
‘‘At this juncture, the beans were spilled; people came
to know that my grandfather was the father of my baby. Grandmother blamed me
for everything that had happened and accused me of killing grandfather.
‘‘She chased me out of her house; I had nowhere else
to go, I slept in the bush for some days and was scared that my baby would die
of starvation, because breast milk stopped coming out.
‘‘One of our neighbours in the village noticed that
I was sleeping in the bush and secretly took me in. She suggested that I needed
counselling and spiritual deliverance, so she took me to a church organisation in
Lusaka where I was prayed for.
‘‘Since then, I have been living at the church; my
child is now six months old. I wish to resume school soon, my dream is to
finish school and become a police officer so that I can protect children from
all forms of abuse.
‘‘I always ask God to help me forget about everything
that has happened to me, but it’s not easy. I only hope and pray that one day all
the bad memories of my grandfather will be wiped off my mind and I will live a
normal life like everyone else.
‘‘My advice to young girls out there is that they
should not be scared to report cases of sexual abuse, regardless of who is
involved, because it is evil.
The Penal Code (Chapter 87 of the Laws of Zambia)
defines defilement as unlawful sexual intercourse with a girl-child below the
age of 16 years. Sadly, defilement is rampant in Zambia.
Recent statistics indicate that 6, 277 girls were
defiled between 2010 and 2013. Last year the University Teaching Hospital (UTH)
recorded over 1,450 defilement cases.
However, like Nchimunya’s, most cases go unreported
as many victims and family members prefer to keep the issue under wraps because
of the stigma accompanying it.
The Zambian law clearly states that it is a criminal
offence for a man to have carnal knowledge of a girl under the age of 16. According to the Penal Code, Chapter 87, and
Section 138(1), such a person is guilty of a felony and is liable to imprisonment
for life. Section 138 (2) further states
that any person who attempts to have carnal knowledge of any girl under the age
of 16 years is guilty of a felony and is liable to imprisonment for life.
Defilement has both physiological and psychological
effects on children which include distress, fear, shame, stigmatisation and
discrimination, among others.
Media Network on Childs Rights executive director
Henry Kabwe says cultural beliefs had led to the escalating number of children
being sexually abused.
Mr. Kabwe observed that despite the stiffer
punishment imposed on would-be offenders, cases of defilement had remained
alarmingly high.
He called for more sensitisation in communities if
the scourge was to be curbed.
“Children deserve their rights and sensitization is
the only way. It is beyond human understanding to hear that a mature man
defiled a child,” Mr. Kabwe said.
And Child labour ambassador Samson Mutambo concurred
with Mr. Kabwe that if communities fully understood the dangers of defilement,
they would always report them.
“It is
shocking and there is no point of hiding such serious cases. The culprits
should be punished; it’s high time we speak against such evil acts and people must
report such cases to relevant authorities, and this can be done when people are
more sensitized,” Mr. Mutambo said.
An index developed by the African Child Policy Forum
on child protection in the African Report on Child Well-being, rates Zambia at
22 out of 52 countries.
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