http://www.metacafe.com/watch/481207/tokunbo_ajayis_birthday_party/The case of a "Nigerian" Newscaster and her fate in the in the arms of armed robbers. Still looking for credible links to sustantiate this story. Ladies what would you do if you were ever raped by a gang of armed robbers in Nigeria? Gentlemen, what would you do if you witnessed your wife, sister, mother, aunt, daughter or any of your loving female relatives gang raped by armed robbers. Your thoughts please.
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The recent upsurge in the cases of rape, especially against kids and old women, has become a source of worry for not only parents, but also policy makers in the country. In this write-up Yekeen Nurudeen ponders why people rape and what punishment should be appropriate for offenders.
Tuesday January 15, 2008 was arguably not an exciting day for both Hasiya Yau, 7 and Fati Lawali, 8, and indeed, their parents, as the two girls were allegedly defiled by an 18-year-old Muttaka Ahmadu at Yanmangorora area of Gusau, Zamfara State. Ahmadu who was arrested later by the police according to Saturday 26, 2008 edition of Weekly Trust, successfully lured the poor girls into a secluded place on the pretext of sending them on an errand.
Dan-Hassana as the alleged rapist is popularly called gave Hasiya and Fati a sum of N5 each with which he enticed them for him to have an uninterrupted access to them, which of course he did. Perhaps, he would have done that unnoticed and gone scot free, but pains that Hasiya who bleeded immediately Ahmadu forced himself into her, was going through would not allow the poor girl to keep calm. She and her co-victims reported the incidents to their parents who alerted the police.
What however is most perturbing in the whole scenario which those who have been calling for strict punishment against those who commit this criminal act have condemned is the fact that, the alleged culprit, Ahmadu, after he was apprehended by the police and admitted that he committed the act, accused the little girls of exaggerating the whole thing. "They are acting the way they will attract sympathy. It was not something serious. The mother of the other girl wanted to leave the matter before the other girl’s parents decide to bring in the police," Ahmadu was reported to have said.
In his own estimation of what he had done, Ahmadu believed it was only an "Act of God," and nothing serious as to attract the involvement of police or what he should be prosecuted for. Similar to his case is that of a 43-year-old man, James Obasi recently arraigned before an Ikeja Magistrate Court in Lagos for allegedly raping a 13-year-old girl. When he was paraded before the court on two-count charge, Obasi who reportedly committed the atrocity on October 25, 2007 pleaded guilty.
Unlike the case of Ahmadu who defiled Hasiya and Fati, Obusi’s victim was a housemaid in the house where he lived at Egba Street, Onilekere, Cement Bus Stop, Agege, Lagos. He was however granted bail in the sum of N100,000 with two sureties while the case was said to have been adjourned till February 11, 2008.
These two separate cases are quite negligible considering the rate at which rape cases occur at the moment. While, Hasiya, Fati and the unfortunate housemaid may still be counted as lucky to have gotten assaults against them reported, and therefore could possibly hope to get justice at the court of law, several other cases have gone unreported with the victims living with the practical and psychological trauma of the rape. The most worrisome of the recent tide of rape incidents across the country is that under-aged girls, teenagers and old women are more often than not the victims.
It is the incessant reported cases of rape of this category of people that have perturbed most women rights organisations in the country to agitate for a review of the punishment mechanism for the rapists.
According to those who want strict sanctions against rapists, the present jail term of about two to five years for a rapist is comparatively inadequate to serve as, deterrent to would be offenders, and also, as redress for the victims. They argued that such measure would do little or nothing to amend the damages done to a victim.
All cultures, especially, Africa have historically promoted a system of honour, dishonour and shame, which was applied with particular strictness to females. For instance, a victim of rape would be considered to have lost her honourable reputation and place in society; a loss of honour which entails shame on the victim's family group as well. It is a naked truth that shame and pressure that follow rape incidents have led many victims of rape to commit suicide.
A near home example was the mysterious death of late Miss Tokunbo Ajayi, a vibrant broadcaster who unconfirmed reports say might have committed suicide after she was gang-raped.
Findings reveal that suicide of rape victims for reasons of shame and stigmatisation have been historically documented in Chinese and Japanese cultures. In the analysis of psychologists, the logic of the loss of honour was largely an extension of the ingrained view of women as commodities for men to consume: once the packaging was forcefully opened by another man, the goods are believed to have been tainted for the next man.
The implication belying this practice is also that women do not biologically lust and thus would or could not choose to have a sexual experience of her own accord, thus providing a justification for women as bartered products. Even as barbaric and condemnable as it is, rape has been view differently also by different cultures.
Some settings see it as a form of punishment, as a victim of rape is commonly a female relative of the person targetted for retaliation.
In Pakistan in June 2002, for instance, a Pakistani woman named Muktaran Bibi was gang-raped by a vigilante mob after her brother was (falsely) accused of rape himself. The Pakistani government, along with local religious officials, condemned this action and sentenced the rapists to death. In another case, ten years prior, Bhanwani Deri, an activist against child marriage in her Rajasthani village, was reportedly gang-raped by five upper-caste village men in retaliation for interference with local child marriages.
Rape has also been used by dictatorial government as method to retaliate against or to intimidate political enemies. There are of course several allegations that this phenomenon took place under the former Iraqi president, Saddam Hussein. And a clear example now is the Abu Ghraib prison, where US soldiers were reportedly using similar sexual intimidation and the threat of rape as a means of psychological torture to frighten their mostly male and Muslim prisoners.
Evidently, varied views about rape have also led to varied punishments against offenders of the crime. And it can hardly be argued what measure of punishment is appropriate for those found guilty, as from society to society, establishing a case of rape substantiated with inconvertible evidences have more often than not provided shield to alleged culprits leaving the victims to contend with the pains and trauma of the assault. This is without doubt what prompted the sponsoring of ‘Sex Crime Bill’ which is pending before the Nigeria's Senate Committee on Human Rights and Judiciary by Senator Chris Anyanwu.
Senator Anyanwu hopes that Sex Crime Bill when eventually passed would help curb the growing cases of sexual harassment and rape throughout the country and child rape. "We are in the National Assembly to touch lives of the people. There is an upsurge in sexual harassment, both in schools and universities, as well as when ladies go out in search of jobs. We even have newer aberrations such as gang-rape not mentioned in our obsolete laws."
Apparently, the lapses in the Nigeria's criminal law where rape is seen as a punishable offence had made it difficult for victims to get justice at the court of law, while, prosecution of rape altogether had been made difficult due to the doctrines of the law. The law seems to have immuned offenders from punishment as in the case of English law from where Nigeria’s law originates, that contained a number of legal and procedural requirements that made the prosecution of rape difficult.
Under the utmost resistance doctrine, a man could be found guilty of rape only if his victim could demonstrate that she had physically attempted to fight off the rape but had been overpowered. So, also, a woman who was not physically bruised had little hope of proving a case of rape. If a woman did not promptly complain of a rape, under the fresh complaint rule, her case could not be heard. The fresh complaint rule was based on the theory that a delayed report of rape was more likely to be fabricated. The implications of these are that children and old women who are victims of rape and could not establish their case following these procedures are most unlikely to get redress.
Although, it was difficult to obtain a conviction under the English common law, the punishment for rape was severe when prosecution was successful. It is treated as a capital offence that attracts capital punishment by death. Death sentence for rapist to some individuals and human rights group could be too much a punishment, even, as Islam and Christianity frown at it. While Christianity, according to Deutronomy 22:28 and 22:25 advocates that a man who commits rape be forced to marry the victim, as the only succor for the victim if she is virgin, but that the culprit must be put to death if the victim is a married woman. Islam prescribes stoning to death of a rapist. Saudi Arabia, has strictly followed the latter, yet, it has been met with severe criticism.
The variation of punishments for rape and how to establish a case for rape call for discretion in handling and determining the case of rape as it is a matter of life and death. Yet, it is in the same vein that rape should be seen as a big crime that could actually take the woman or the victim's life and as a result, a review of the punishment as being deliberated at the National Assembly cannot be more timely.
The bill as assured by Senator Anyanwu when finally passed will take cognisance of very important areas not touched by the previous laws, especially with regards to establishing sex crimes, such that will create world acceptable standards with recognisable evidence of sexual harassment.
It thus, means, that Hasiya, Fati and many in their shoes whose joy have been tainted by rapists could hope to have justice and reprieve. But, Nigerians hope that the Senate would not trivialise on this matter as to come out with appropriate punishment for rapist that would serve as succour to victims, and then, deterrents to would be offenders.
Rape victims especially females feel a long lasting stigma since most societies do not adequately discuss the issues of rape or treat the victims with dignity. This case of Tokunbo Ajayi is still shrouded in mystery. As a female, I think I would commit suicide. As a male, I would die fighting to protect my loved female relatives from such an evil encounter. |
