For some reasons best known to her, Zeenat Montari, left her former husband, not too long ago, to marry one Magaji Dansale, in Marachi Village, Musawa local government area of Katsina State. She took along with her, her little baby who was, in March of this year, barely seven months old. She never suspected that her new husband was a rapist, or one that could indulge in defilement.
Sometime last month, Zeenat, who said she unusually slept off too deep beyond her comprehension, woke up to breast-feed her baby when she noticed that the baby had blood stains in her private part.
Worried and curious, she drew the attention of her husband to the development, and her husband was quick to dismiss it with a wave of the hand, saying it could be pile.
However, the woman started suspecting foul play when, in the morning of the next day, she saw bloodstain on her husband’s trousers, when washing his clothes. To her, that was more than a mere co-incidence.
She soon took the baby girl to Malumfashi General Hospital where her fear was confirmed: The seven years old baby had been defiled.
The police was brought into the case and it was discovered that Zeenat’s husband was indeed the suspect.
The baby was later referred to Turai Yar’Adua Maternal and Child Hospital, Katsina.
Eventually, the baby, it was gathered, died as a result of the defilement.
The case of the 55 years old stepfather is just one of the numerous cases of defilement and rape in recent time.
A similar nauseating case is that of one 42 years old man, Akate Thomas, who defiled his two daughters and even impregnated one! A neighbour, one Francis Omanga, reported the case to the police.
Thomas was reported to have threatened to kill his daughters if any of them told anybody about what happened. Quite a plethora of similar cases abound.
With the rising case of defilement and rape in recent time, it is obvious that no child appears to be safe except if particularly protected. But why has there been an upsurge in the cases of defilement and rape? According to a public health practitioner and mother of three, Mrs. Folasade Ofurune, many factors are responsible for the development, chief among which is the sudden portrayal of women as sex toys. This, according to her, is often seen in advertisement whether on radio, television, bill boards or on the internet with high sexual tone.
Other factors responsible are the provocative ways parents dress their children up; the increase in the abuse of drugs, particularly, local or herbal aphrodisiac and weak enforcement of laws bordering on sexual abuse and other related crimes.
Her words: “Females have been portrayed as sex toys which are meant to be used to achieve anything. Thus, the male folks cannot draw the line between a girl and a mature lady.
“Also, the provocative way that parents dress their girls is to blame. You will see little girls in ultra mini, bum shorts, open back, halter neck and other clothes that are meant for adults.
“Another factor is the high rate of substance abuse among men often in the name of using “bitters”. Some of these bitters contain stimulants that arouse men. Imagine a man who just took a stimulant and three years old girl walks into his room wearing bum shorts and open back. His distorted senses will view her as a mature lady, and he will defile her”.
Ofurune who is the executive director of a non-governmental organisation, Health Education and Empowerment Initiative (HEDEN), which campaigns against sexual abuse among other things, blamed the police too for non-enforcement of the law when such cases are brought to them.
“Most parents do not report cases of child sexual abuse because they want to protect their privacy and the future of their daughters. Unfortunately, the few parents who report often do not get justice. There are cases where police officers will tell them that it was not their duty. And they will not proffer a referral”, she said.
A psychologist and lecturer at the University of Lagos, Dr. Oni Bamikola Fagbohungbe, gave different perspectives to the causes of the unfortunate development. According to him, among other things, the increase in the cases of rape and defilement could be blamed on economic and sociological factors.
“Looking at the economic factor, we know there is recession. That means there is lack of money and the standard of living has diminished. Those who, when they had sexual urge and had no willing partners, but would normally go to commercial sex workers, no longer have the means to do that. They cannot afford to pay the commercial workers for their services so they resort to raping and defiling,” he said.
Fagbohungbe who described sex as a physiological need like food and water explained that when the urge for it comes, the individual is full of anxiety.
He said once there is no willing partner with who to satisfy the urge, the person looks for any opportunity to express him and this includes raping or defiling.
He said the increase in the use of technology and exposure to so many experiences through movies is also a major contribution to the problem.
“For example, an armed robber who watches a movie and sees how robbery is carried out in it would want to practise it. The same with someone who watches a rape scene; he would want to practise it when there is pressure on him for it. And often times, they have what is called illusion of personal invulnerability.
“This illusion is a feeling that they can always get away with it. That is why a 60-year old man would defile a girl of five years old and think that he would get away with it forgetting that there would always be signs to give him away,” he said.
The psychologist also spoke about the phenomenon of fathers sleeping with their daughters. To him, one major cause is youthful deprivation.
According to him, some men who did not have the opportunity of dating girls as young people feel a vacuum that needs to be filled, hence they resort to defiling young girls or their daughters, splashing them with gifts as though they were their girlfriends.
He also attributed the development, in some instances, to sex starvation by the wife. He said, usually, such people often feel offended that they are deprived, and once that happens, they would want to revenge. In this case, the psychologist said, the daughter could fall a victim in the hand of an irresponsible father.
Fagbohungbe, however, said there are some major ways the increase in the cases of rape and defilement could be curtailed.
“We should return to our original culture and values. There is incest taboo in our society, but they are no longer obeyed. The restraint that you cannot have sexual relationship with your blood relations or such close relatives is no longer there. That is why we have an upsurge in the cases”, he said.
The lecturer also reasoned that exposing the girl child unnecessarily is wrong. He said, for instance, “it is not good for a girl to live alone with the father. The closeness and availability must be checked with the presence of the mother”.
He said the need to punish offenders is another way of stopping the menace. Law enforcement agents, he said, should also not consider the report of rape or defilement as a laughing matter.
For Mrs Folasade Ofurune, the best protection is done at community level with everyone being involved.
She said there should be increase in efforts to create professional awareness of child sexual abuse to the public.
