Mozambique: A Non-traditional decision saved Letwin Leonardo Secreta

Mozambique: A Non-traditional decision saved Letwin Leonardo Secreta

Letwin Leonardo was 14 years old in 2017. She was born and raised in Barauro, Administrative Post of Choa, in the District of Bárue, northern region of the province of Manica. The sad story of Letwin begins when she finished the seventh grade in 2016. Because in her community there is no secondary school unit, she was sent to Vila de Catandica to continue his studies. However, soon in the early months of 2017, Letwin got sick; she had stomachaches that did not pass. Therefore, she did not attend school for about three consecutive months. Thus, the girl was forced to return to Barauro 1.

While recovering from pain, Letwin was sent by his mother to her grandmother’s house in Barauro 2, which is a few kilometers from Barauro 1 to stay with her grandmother because Letwin’s uncle who lived with his grandmother had suffered a motorcycle accident. As a son-in-law, Letwin’s father was forced to accompany his brother-in-law to the city of Chimoio to receive specialized medical care at the Provincial Hospital. They were there about 30 days. It was during this period that a group of 4 individuals kidnapped Letwin from her grandparents’ house when she was alone. It was taken to the border between Mozambique and Zimbabwe, in a mountainous area and far from her house.

Alone in front of four men, she was raped by one of the abductors, a 45-year-old Zimbabwean, while the others held her. Letwin says that this act was the result of many attempts to conquer her. The abductor had even tried to seduce her by giving her money in exchange for sex, but the girl always refused and told her mother and grandmother. When she returned home, with the support of people from the community, she Letwin told her mother what had happened to her.

The rapist’s relatives took her to their home and treated her as their daughter-in-law. There she refused to eat in spite of the good treatment that she received. Letwin’s parents took her to the health center where she did many exams including HIV and she was medicated. The doctor’s recommendation, according to the mother, was to return three months later for further exams to see if she did not get any transmissible diseases. Local leaders solved the case at the community in the absence of the true rapist; only the other three were present. In response to apologies and advice from the leaderships, Mr. Leonardo Secreta accepted a payment of a fine of sixty thousand Meticals for moral damages, at the rate of twenty thousand from each of the accomplices, since the true violator had disappeared.  They also decided to hand the girl to the rapist’s family. Letwin’s parents did not accept. They preferred to stay with their daughter so that she could continue with her studies. Many people in Barauro praised this attitude.

“You see, if I had agreed to hand my daughter over to a thug like this, who is a fugitive, about 45 years old, how would my daughter be? It would be the same as selling her or killing her…” concluded Leonardo Secret.

The support of the community of Barauro and Letwin’s parents was fundamental for Letwin. Letwin has never reported any situation of discrimination in her community. Sara Matias, Letwin’s mother, says that it is not easy to live with the idea of having a daughter who was raped before the start of her menstrual period, but because the family is united and the other members of the community gave their support, helped in overcoming what happened. It is important to mention that in Barauro there are community awareness activities to combat the phenomena of kidnapping and trafficking in human beings, early child marriages, rape, early pregnancy and other hardships. Local community committees and children’s groups, as well as schools, Save the Children, an international organization and Gender Links conduct these awareness activities.

Thanks to the work done by Gender Links with the local authorities she was sent back to school where she as a chance to keep following her dreams. These is a great experience that should be followed by region.