The Sunday Mail
While much of the world has focused its attention on the Boko Haram kidnappings in Nigeria, a similar story is quietly unfolding much much closer to home.
In the remote area of Machongwe in rural Chimanimani, a couple is grappling with the mystery of their two daughters’ month-long disappearance.
Tatenda (17) and Hazel (15) Marwirana disappeared over a month ago.
The two were in the company of their cousin, Tilda.
Tilda is still missing, and has been since they were kidnapped on May 25 while collecting firewood.
Tatenda had just turned 17 and Hazel, a primary school drop-out, and the pair only resurfaced two weeks ago but are still to be reunited with their family because their parents are demanding medicals before they can accept them back. In the meantime, the two are holed up at Simukai Child Protection Centre in Mutare.
Efforts to get details from the provincial police spokesperson were futile as the case had been transferred to the national headquarters in Harare, where no one was willing to talk about the matter on record.
However, The Sunday Mail Extra did unearth some unsettling issues related to the plight of girls in this part of the country.
Villagers in and around the little Machongwe Business Centre in the heart of Chimanimani were reluctant to talk about the kidnapping case but all those who opened up had shocking tales to tell.
Raising a girl in this poverty-stricken, secluded and mountainous area is a risky business. And more the story of the missing girls could just be a tip of the iceberg as child abuse largely goes unreported in the area.
It is alleged that the missing 15-year-old Tilda has been forced into marriage by the kidnappers, though there are conflicting tales as to her whereabouts; with some saying she is in Mutare and others insisting she was moved to Harare’s Glen View suburb.
We also heard that such occurrences are not uncommon here, with some members of the community saying a 13-year-old girl was recently admitted to the maternity ward at Mutambara Hospital after having been kidnapped and subjected to sexual abuse.
“A lot is happening, I tell you, there is a secluded place called Kwa Peacock where a number of girls have been taken to for abuse. Most of these cases just vanish unreported,” says an elderly lady from Nyahode Village.
A teacher at a local school said such impunity was rife because the communication network in the area was poor, making it difficult to inform law enforcement agents when crimes happened; adding that low literacy levels also contributed to vice.
“Some parents do not know their children’s rights and neither are they aware of the right channels to follow when their children are abused,” he said.
And the victims themselves, what do they say? That is a story we were not able to hear as officials at Simukai Social Welfare Centre referred this paper to provincial authorities for clearance, who in turn pointed to the national office, who were not in a position to assist by the time of writing.
As the matter shifted from office to office, back at Pfumo Village near Machongwe growth point, the blind, jobless and clearly weary Mr Sibonile Marwirana (45), father of the two girls who recently came back, still waits for justice. Flanked by his equally emotionally charged wife Mrs Rosemary Mapenzi (38), Sibonile could not hold back his tears as he narrated the family’s ordeal.
“All I seek for is justice; maybe my little girls were sexually abused and could be carrying the deadly diseases right now. The police have promised to facilitate medical examinations for the girls since the beginning of July when the children resurfaced, but up to now nothing has been done.
“What is worse is that some of the suspects can be seen bragging at the growth point saying that they will not be arrested because they are friends with the police. I begin to wonder if people are taking advantage of my condition because recently there was a break-in at my house and the intruder attempted to rape one of my girls,” lamented Mr Sibonile.
Several theories have been proffered in an attempt to explain the girls’ disappearance, ranging from ritualism to pure criminal intent linked to sexual abuse. Some of the people who spoke to The Sunday Mail Extra at Machongwe Business Centre implicated a local tuckshop owner.
The man (name withheld) is in his late 20s allegedly opens his business premises to his colleagues at night so that they can bring in girls and sexually abuse them. Most of the girls are lured to the place on the promise of minuscule financial returns and others are kidnapped.
“On the night my girls went missing, I got a tip-off from a villager to check the tuckshop. And when we laid siege on it I personally saw him (the shop owner) bolting out from the rear with a girl in tow.
“Later we got an anonymous call and I spoke with one of my girls but her voice sounded like someone who had been drugged. That was the last time we heard of them until July 1 when they resurfaced,” said Mr Sibonile, who lost his sight in 1996 and now survives on running what passes for a tree nursery that earns him US$50 in a good month.
The alleged sexual abuse cases are happening at a time politicians are calling for stiffer penalties on perpetrators.
First Lady Amai Grace Mugabe and Zanu-PF’s Women’s League chair Cde Oppah Muchinguri have led the calls.
By Langton Nyakwenda recently in CHIMANIMANI
