Boy narrates gay rape ordeal

Many Malawians might have become accustomed to “boy rapes girl” stories, but a 19-year-old boy in Mzuzu says he has no peace of mind after an alleged round of forced sex with a male adult.

When The Nation team visited the boy’s home in Chibavi Township on Wednesday, he had locked himself in a room not aware that the man he claims to have had forced sex with him had been granted bail by Mzuzu second grade resident magistrate Austin Banda that morning.

The boy’s equally aggrieved mother said this was the third day her son had been hibernating in the bedroom, failing to come to terms with the realities of same-sex activity he reportedly endured allegedly at the hands of Centre for the Development of People (Cedep) assistant project officer Ishmael Makhuludzo on Saturday.

“The boy has become withdrawn. He no longer goes to play and hardly mingles with friends. He has been spending the past few days in the bedroom, which is not typical of him,” said the woman whose husband died in 2007.

That was barely three hours after the accused had appeared in court and pleaded not guilty to sodomy, a felony according to Section 156 of the Penal Code, which Banda defined as “having carnal knowledge of the boy against the order of nature”.

The widow says when she saw the two together it did not occur to her that the friendship would end with the 19-year-oldaccusing his 29-year-old colleague of “making him drunk and having sex with him through the anus.”

All she was worried about was the huge age disparity between them.

“But not wanting my son to be dragged into rogue lifestyle, I phoned him [the man] three months ago to find out what he was up to with the small boy and he assured me that he was looking after him like his younger brother,” she says.

The teenager, who sat for Malawi School Certificate of Education (MSCE) examinations at Katoto Secondary School this year, said Makhuludzo, a graduate of the University of Malawi’s Chancellor College, always offered him brotherly advice on how to succeed in school.

“Until Saturday, though,” says the boy. “That day around 2pm, I was basking in the sun when he came cycling and asked me to a friend’s house where we first met nine months ago. There, we found our friends drinking beer and we joined in not knowing what lied ahead.”

In his words, the teenager, born on October 23 1995, did not even know what lay ahead by 8pm when they drove to Paris Club in Luwinga for more booze.

When asked about the events of the night, he recounted: “When we got to his home near Luwinga Anglican Church, he showed me an unoccupied room and I quickly jumped into bed with my clothes and shoes on. I was so drunk that I blacked out and slept in my own vomits.

“It was around midnight when I woke up from the blackout only to discover he had had sex with me. There was pain and wetness in my anus.”

Mzuzu Police spokesperson Martin Bwanali told The Nation that a medical report from Mzuzu Central Hospital showed he had bruises in the said part which law enforcers at Chibavi Police Unit where the boy first reported the matter termed as “signs of conflict”.

The boy says the incident has left him dejected and in need of counselling.

Homosexuality has become a burning issue in Malawi, one of 32 African countries with laws that prohibit same-sex marriages, since 2010 when Blantyre Magistrate’s Court slapped the first confessed gay couple of Steve Monjeza and Tiwonge Chimbalanga with the maximum sentence of 14 years in prison.

The case partly brings into question Cedep, which has been instrumental in the fight for minority rights and combating homophobia since the Monjeza-Chimbalanga case whose verdict was rescinded by fallen president Bingu wa Mutharika.

When contacted, Cedep executive director Gift Trapence said it is important to separate Cedep position on human rights and minority rights in particular from the criminal facts in this case.

In an interview from South Africa, Trapence said: “:Cedep cannot make a statement in this particular case because the case is still in court and we do not have sufficient information.”

The boy insists the sexual encounter was not consensual. Makhuludzo—who won bail after paying K10 000 cash, offering friend Patrick Phiri as non-cash surety bonded at K50 000 and surrendering travel documents to police—will be expected to appear before court every two weeks.