Sitting in the dock in one of the court rooms was a man awaiting sentencing for raping a minor. On the front bench sat two women fidgeting uncomfortably. The judge sentenced the man to 16 years imprisonment, five of which were suspended.
One of the women, whom I shall call Stacy, broke the silence of the court with her scream, and was quickly ushered outside. An elderly woman, weeping silently, took charge of the situation and whispered something to the hysterical woman, who swiftly wiped her eyes and regained total composure.
Relating her ordeal to this scribe, Stacy said the convicted man was her husband and it is sad that things had gone this way after 14 years of marriage. She said her husband, whom I shall call Titus, was a first offender and had initially disputed the charges when they were first laid.
“I never thought that this could happen to the man with whom I exchanged vows. I understand the irreparable damage caused to the victim. But the Judge should have also considered that Titus is a father to five minors,” she said, blinking back tears.
“Since Titus was arrested for rape, I have not had peace because society has practically blacklisted me and my family because of what my husband has done.” She said no- one had given her support and even Titus’ relatives have told her in no uncertain terms ‘that this whole drama ‘was her fault.
Another woman from Gweru said she had moved to Harare after her husband had raped his 12-year old-niece. Doreen Domwa (43) said “Gweru is a small town and the whole community treated me like I had conspired with my husband to rape his niece,” she said.
She said even the church was not supportive and the only solution was to relocate to another town.
“My husband is still serving a jail term but his family has practically erased me and my children from being part of family activities. There was virtually no support for me during this trying time. I even contemplated suicide,” added the mother of two.
A woman whose husband was recently convicted at Chitungwiza magistrate court who spoke on condition of anonymity said the sentence means the end of the road for her marriage.
“My relatives have been the only support that I have had since last year when my husband was accused of rape. Looking back, i realise that his actions reflect that he is not normal upstairs so i have no space for someone like that in my life,” she said.
She said women in situations like hers need counselling and support.
“I attended counselling sessions and that helped a lot but just how many of us can think of that when in situations such as these? More needs to be done to support these women. As it is, even rape victims are not given the necessary support,” she said.
Angela Tsingwe (22) from Mutoko, a victim of rape, said there was tendency to discriminate not only against rape victims but also against the immediate family members of the perpetrators.
“The father of the boy who raped me was chased away from church because they argued that he had failed to instil good morals in his child. It made me feel worse about reporting the whole issue because his younger brothers were also ridiculed at school,” said Tsingwe.
The Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) has established “victim friendly” desks at various posts as a way of assisting rape and domestic violence victims to access the necessary support.
However, concerns have been raised about these, with many victims complaining that the officers are not friendly and the environment is not conducive for reporting their cases.
Post published in: News