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THE CHILDREN ARE CRYING
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Her eyes tell it all, her tears sum it all. She rubs her eyes with the back of her hands to prevent more tears from flowing. She flinches as she tries to turn to face me and I notice that her bed sheet is stained with blood. She rolls over on her face, and breaks into a loud sob.



“How old are you?” I ask her.

She lifts four fingers of her right hand feebly, and more of her tears fall.



She is too young to comprehend what is going on around her, and her frail little body cannot take the intensity of pain that she has been subjected to.



She was defiled by her neighbour, a man in his mid thirties, on her way from school. The man allegedly lured her to watch a cartoon program in his house, and then abused her.



“He told me to sing for him what we heard learn in school, then he told me that he had a cartoon that had characters singing the song in his house.” The little girl says amidst sobs.



The saddest part of it all is that the victim’s mother has decided to settle out of course. As a slum dweller living in adverse poverty, she feels that going to course in pursuit of justice will only expose her daughter to further embarrassment, and may not benefit them at all.



“We need the money. Going to court will only make people talk about how unclean my daughter is. Besides, the man has offered to give me fifty thousand shillings, which will help my family.” the single mother of four children said.



This scene is being played in most parts of Africa. Children are being robbed of their innocence by people who believe that they have their way in buying themselves out of justice.



It is obvious that the life of this four year old girl will never be the same. She has been robbed of her childhood, and darkness has entered her life too soon. Her perception of life has changed, and her innocence has been shattered. A man has bought her happiness, with fifty thousand shillings.



This is the price we pay for ignorance. When people are not informed about justice and when subjects like rape are talked about in hushed tones, parents accept fifty thousand shillings as settlement for their children’s unfathomable pain.



When victims of rape are treated with so much aloofness and discrimination by the society, their parents are tempted to hide details of their abuse in an attempt to protect them.



The young children’s future is at stake if an immediate intervention is not done to contain the rape cases that are increasing by the day. And indeed, we all have parts to play in ensuring that this is done.


July 31, 2009 | 10:39 AM Comments  0 comments

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