Woman blames rape trauma for relationships failure

Danisa Masuku
A 27-year-old woman, who was allegedly raped on several occasions by her cousin 20 years ago, has reported him to the police after the rape ordeal traumatised her, causing her to break up with every man that she fell in love with.

According to a source close to investigations, the woman who is now 27 years old, was sexually violated sometime in 2001 up to 2002 by her cousin who was 17 years old at the time.

She stayed with her grandmother and her cousin in Zvishavane.

The privy source said her unsuspecting paternal grandmother would leave her in the care of her 17-year-old cousin.

“Her cousin would call her to his bedroom hut in the evening and rape her and would sexually assault her whenever her grandmother left them alone at their homestead,” said the source.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, a family member said whenever their granny travelled, he would sexually assault her.

“Fearing that he could impregnate her, her cousin would use a condom and rape her during the night and sternly warn her not to disclose the ordeal to anyone,” said the family source.

The family insider said the then seven-year-old minor kept the matter to herself, but it traumatised her causing her to face problems in her relationships.

However, last week she decided to divulge the traumatising secret to her aunt.

Her aunt advised her to report the matter to the police and she reported the rape ordeal at Bulawayo Central Police Station. She was referred to United Bulawayo Hospital (UBH) for counseling.

Police are now hunting down the alleged rapist.

Bulawayo police spokesperson Inspector Abednico Ncube confirmed the incident: “I can confirm that we are investigating an alleged rape case where a woman was raped while she was seven years old and the matter traumatised her for two decades causing her to report to the police last week. We would like to urge members of the community not to sweep such matters under the carpet but report the matter while it is still fresh.”

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