
SHARE:
*Trigger warning: Violence*
My resolution for the New Year was to start my tertiary education. Then tragedy struck. I was waiting at a bus stop to go to the village, but it took a long time to come. I became impatient so I got into a car that was waiting at the same stop. There was a passenger in the back of the car, a middle aged man whose face looked innocent. He was cheerful and friendly.
The driver of the car then drove us through the traffic, but passed the turn that we were supposed to take. He drove to a deserted gravel road and I asked him where he was going. The guy in the back asked me to keep quiet. I continued to ask where we were going and then the man in the back of the car hit me very hard on my face. I tried to get out of the moving car but he pushed me back in and took a knife out of his pocket. He put a cloth over my eyes. I suddenly felt blood pouring from my back. He put the cloth over my face to stop me from seeing where they were taking me. I tried to scream but the man held me so tightly that I could not do anything.
Suddenly the car stopped and it was very quiet. I heard the car door open and the driver pushed me out of the car onto the ground. My phone rang in my handbag, and he took it. It was my grandmother. I thought she was calling because it was late and she was worried sick. He answered it and my grandmother asked him where I was. He answered saying that I was coming, that I had just left to go to a shop. He then hung up and switched the cell phone off. He removed the cloth from my face and I just could not believe where I was. I was in a dirty house full of spider webs. It was very strange.
The man locked the door and the windows were reinforced so I could not escape. I was so scared. His friend waited outside, and he started touching me. I pushed him away but he took out his knife and pushed me down on a dirty, smelly mat. I asked him to use protection because I could tell that he wanted to rape me, which he did. The sex was very painful. After the rape, I was bleeding. He left me in the house.
I tried to find something to break the door, but it was solidly locked. I realised that I was a captive. I cried all night until I lost hope, thinking that I was going to die. The following day I heard the car parking outside. It was him again. I was shaking and shivering. He came inside and sat down on the dirty floor and ordered me to take off my clothes. He was holding his knife. He asked me to do a strip, but I told him that I did not know how to do such a thing. He became angry and raped me again, and I cried bitterly.
Again he left the house. It was getting dark and I needed water. I just wanted to bath. Suddenly the car arrived and there was a lot of noise. The man opened the door, put the cloth over my eyes, and pushed me into the car. They drove and drove and then stopped the car. The other man opened the door and he pushed me out. I fell on a small bushy tree. The car reversed very fast and they drove off.
I stood there in the dark, my clothes tattered. A late bus arrived and I got on it. The other passengers were staring at me and I found a seat and sat alone. When I got to my village I went straight home, but I found no-one there. My grandparents were at the farm. I went to my aunt’s place and she was already fast asleep. She opened the door and found me crying. She calmed me down and I told her everything that I had been through.
We went to the police and they just made the matter worse by asking too many uncomfortable, horrible questions. I just hated them so much. They took me to the hospital and fortunately I was not infected with any disease. They stitched up the stab wound, but I felt that my future was ruined.
I was referred to our community social worker for counselling. My family was there for me, and my friends supported me too. I cannot believe that I survived that ordeal. I just wish that those people would get caught. They do not deserve to live.
I encourage women to speak out about any violence or abuse they are experiencing. Just shout and let it out WOMEN!
*Not her real name
This story is part of the “I” Stories series produced by the Gender Links News Service encouraging the view that speaking out can set you free.
📝Read the emotional article by @nokwe_mnomiya, with a personal plea: 🇿🇦Breaking the cycle of violence!https://t.co/6kPcu2Whwm pic.twitter.com/d60tsBqJwx
— Gender Links (@GenderLinks) December 17, 2024
One thought on “Botswana: I was abducted for two days and raped”
I really want to share the same ordeal with other women who are bottled up with the issue of rape