Perils of step-daughter rape

If she is not sleeping under a tree behind her house, then she is in Mchesi Market in Lilongwe selling water to restaurant operators.

This is how 16-year-old Patricia lives. Though she lives with her mother and currently at Lilongwe Girls Primary School, Patricia provides for herself.

“It has been like this for two years now,” she says amid tears, “I thank God when I see another morning because, usually, I sleep on an empty stomach and when I am ill, there is nobody to support me. I frequently miss classes because of hunger, but I am not losing hope, one day my God will save me.”

She says her relationship with her mother went sour four years ago and has for several times been told to leave the home.

“If there was a relative in town, I could have left long time ago. I want to get educated; going to the village cannot help me realise this dream,” she laments.

She says trouble began in 2010—two years after the death of her biological father. Her widowed mother, who sells, flitters to earn a living remarried. She says the man took advantage of the situation at home to seduce her.

“He used to come to my room telling me he would buy me clothes, shoes and new uniform for schools. He said he wished me the best and he will send me to an international school after my primary education.

“What was surprising was that he used to say I should not tell my mother because she would be jealousy. Slowly, he began to touch my body when in my room and eventually started to tell me I am beautiful and he needs sex.

“I refused several times, but he insisted and used force. He even warned me against telling anyone,” she recalls.

With time, Patricia could not hold on the pain. She spilled the beans to the neighbour who reported to police.

According to the girl, the step father is now at Maula Prison in Lilongwe serving a rape sentence.

Although the arrest saved the teenager from continued rape, the repeated rape she suffered left her expectant.

“I realised that I was pregnant after my step father had been arrested. I successfully gave birth in 2011, but lost the baby few days later,” she explains.

Patricia’s untimely ascendance to motherhood is not the most hurtful experience she is living with, but the relationship with her mother. The teenager says her mother treats her as an enemy and she stopped providing for her.

Unlike other children in the family who enjoy motherly support, Patricia only has a school uniform dress, a skirt and blouse. She does not have shoes and the school materials she uses are donations from teachers. She adds that every time she complains to her mother, the response she gets is: “Your source of income is in prison.”

Patricia adds that her mother taunts her.

“Every time she sees me with men she chats with, she rants: ‘Do you want to start sleeping with my friends as you did with my husband, prostitute!’ I don’t have peace,” she says.

Even when she returns from the prison to give her step father food, she says the mother asks her derogatory questions such as: “What have you agreed? Are you marrying when he is released?”

Her class teacher, Lulu Chikupeta, says the girl is psychologically affected and she has lost her concentration in class. Chikupeta says the girl’s performance continues to dwindle. She adds that the worst happens when she is teaching anything on human reproductive health and twice, she broke into tears while the teacher was discussing premarital sex and early pregnancies.

“She is confused and frequently misses classes because she sometimes sleeps on empty stomach. She is in a bad situation and I am recommending anyone wanting to help her to come forward and I will offer guidance and support to bail her out,” says Chikupeta.

During the visit, Patricia was at the neighbour’s home taking lunch and said her mother had chased her out of the house.

“I feel sorry for the girl and she lives in pain. She has a lot to think about against her age. The rape she suffered continues to cause pain in her because of the treatment she is getting.

“I try to encourage her and share with her the little that I get to keep her in school. One of her teachers [Chikupeta] also supports her, but now because she has been chased out of the home, she needs someone to take care of her,” says Mildred Chivundi, a neighbour.

Patricia’s case looks extraordinary, but many girls are becoming victims of defilement and their hope for recovery is shattered by their communities.

Last month, The Nation reported 13 rape cases involving adult men and young girls and this excludes cases that did not reach the police.

In an earlier interview, executive director for Eye of the Child Maxwell Matewere said the girl’s situation is worrisome and says an immediate action need to be taken to save her future.

Matewere says it is shocking that such stories are becoming rampant and the interventions available are only focusing on the defaulters and not the victims.

“As a country we are failing our duty to protect rape victims. It is my request to government that it should introduce a special programme that focuses on rape issues and the life afterwards because if we don’t do anything now, we are going to bury the future of many girls who are victims of rape like Patricia,”says Matewere.

Minister of Gender, Children, Disability and Social Welfare Patricia Kaliati condemns the practice in strongest terms and urges parents to love their children and see them as assets. She also advises children and neighbours to report such cases to authorities immediately they observe that parents are hiding. She says her ministry is ready to support children in such situations through government’s social welfare offices.

Meanwhile,Chikupeta says she approached Kaliati to help the girl and the minister has included her on the ministry’s programme for the needy children. She says Patricia is now being accommodated at the ministry’s offices alongside other needy children.