BY REBECCA MACKIN
Solomon Women Newspaper (SWN): Can you please tell me your name?
Anonymous (A): I am not quite comfortable to give you my name. But I’m confident to tell my story.
SWN: You have anything to share with Solomon’s Woman?
A: Yes, something that happened to me a long time ago when I was little. I was in grade 2 when the incident occurred but this experience was unforgettable.
SWN: What Happened?
A: In 1995, I was 8 years old and I was in Grade 2. The school I attended was quite close to where I live so I normally walk home with my school mate after school who was in grade 4. She’s my neighbor so we usually walked home together.
My father usually dropped me off at school every morning and after school I walked home. Now, it happened that one day after school I met up with my friend and we walked home together. On our way home we came to a field and we met up with my friend’s cousin sister.
My friend then decided to follow her cousin so I left them and began walking by myself. As I was walking a man standing a meter away called me. I turned and looked at the man’s direction but since he was a stranger I took no attention but I kept walking. The man then called me again, this time round he waved his hand and called me to stop and wait.
His face doesn’t look like any of my relatives, uncles or cousins so I began to walk even faster. I felt frighten without turning back. That day there were people moving around but I guess they didn’t notice anything weird. As I was walking I heard his voice coming very close. By realizing this I began to run but then I felt a hand gripped on my school bag.
I tried to pull away but I couldn’t. The man confronted me and asked where I was heading to. With trembled voice I told him that I was going home and my mother was expecting me. But then he just asked me if I liked any sweets in the shop but I refused. As he was asking me all this, his hand was still on my bag and then he grabbed my left hand and forced me to walk with him.
He led me to one of the shops nearby and asked me if I wanted a bottle of Schweppes but I still refused. So, he bought me a big ice block, some lolly and chewing gum but I didn’t took them. I was afraid and scared because he wouldn’t let go of my hand. I began to cry telling him that I wanted to go home instead he forced me to take what he bought. Feeling so frighten I took them but I didn’t ate any of it. I was still crying because he was holding my hand so tight that it hurts. I struggled trying to pull my hand from him but was helpless because I was only a little girl.
As I was crying he pulled me by the hand like a father pulling away her daughter who wants an ice cream but no money to buy for that ice cream. I think that’s how people might thought at that time. He then took me to a Kaibar and asked the cashier that I needed to use the toilet. Seeing me crying the cashier thought I needed to pee. She then gave instructions to where the toilet was. As he led me, I hesitated and bite his hand but quickly he took hold of me with his other hand. He was so strong and I just couldn’t fought back or escaped.
I started to cry louder, as we approach the toilet room. He forced me inside by dragging me in and locking the door. There was no proper lock on the door but only a small piece of wood nailed in front of the door. Inside the toilet room he let go of my hand because he knew I wouldn’t escape. I left the things he bought on the floor near the door and tried to escape but the lock was very high to reach. Feeling so scared of what might happened to me, I began to cry out louder.
He tried to calm me down by saying that if I cried loud the police would come and arrest me. As a child that time I was afraid of police, so I tried to lower my voice. At that point of time the first thing he did was knelling down in front of me. He opened his mouth and told me to kiss him, I refused by crying. His mouth and tongue was red with betel nut stain. The next thing he unbelted his long pants and showed me his private part. It was a horrible experience scene to recall.
He then asked me if I liked it and forced me to take off my undies but I resisted by moving away. He came closer and tried to undress me but with my strong resistance and loud cry, the cashier heard me crying and she came knocking on the toilet door and asked if everything was okay and the man responded calmly and she walked away.
At that moment he quickly pulled up his pants and told me to stop crying and he opened the door and handed me some money and told me not to tell anyone and he took off. I left all the money just in front of the Kaibar and ran straight home.
I cried as I ran straight home. I got home and my mother was in the living room and as soon as she saw me she came to me and asked me what happened. I told her the whole story and the first thing she did was taking me to my bed room. And she told me to take my undies off so she could check me up if there were damages or in case the man might have sexually abused me but she saw nothing unusual.
After that she took me and we went straight to the Kaibar and look for that man but he left the location. My mum went to the cashier and asked for the man’s description. That was the time many people started to gather around us to know what had happened.
Later she took me to the nearby police station and reported the incident after that we went to the hospital for medical check.
SWN: Do you still remember and can you give a description of that man?
A: Yes, I can still remember. He has a big dark brown afro hair, he is a betel nut chewer. That day he was wearing a long black pants that has flared bottom. He wore a short hand collar maroon shirt and carried a bag.
SWN: Why did you decide to personally share your experience with Solomon Women Newspaper?
A: I have been keeping this for a long time now. I kept it as a secret of my past and was afraid to come out. I believe there are a number of girls or women out there who might have gone through similar incidents or have been sexually abused but are afraid to speak out about it. By speaking out, I believe it would help and also encourage them to open up instead of being silent about it. Also my story might help remind parents to be aware that such thing might happen and we need to take extra care of their girls.
SWN: How did this incident affects you as a woman?
A: By being so protective especially to my daughter and my younger sister. Sometimes I can be so bossy and become suspicious and I think negative about other people around me. I’m still trying my best on how to deal with such attitude. I don’t easily trust people especially men.
SWN: In your own words. Anything you wish to share with our readers?
A: Always look out for your daughters especially to mother’s who have girls. Don’t let them travel by themselves, make sure that when they travel they are accompanied by someone. Trust no one and never leave your children alone with friends or be watchful with people you trust because now are days from the media reports most sexual abuse or rape cases are now increasing so rapidly.
