INCESTUOUS RAPE: MORE THAN A MERE FAMILY ISSUE

Lolade Olu-Ojegbeje

The courtroom was jammed. Journalist were there to report the horrific details to the world…Ironically, very few people in the courtroom cared about justice but the entertainment they would derive from listening to father and daughter confess their incestuous relationship…’For fifteen years, a father sexually molests his own daughter…Totally abominable’, the judge had screamed. ‘I therefore sentence this paedophile to twenty years without parole…case dismissed….’ The judge struck the gavel for the last time before rising…. (Violated: A woman’s Story, Amaka Azuike’s contribution to the 9th volume of the Ibadan Journal of English Studies, 2013 edition; page 311).

Azuike has shown in the above story that incestuous rape is fast becoming a major social vice which should never be left within the confines of the family. Every case of incestuous rape should be reported and adequately addressed. The story may be fictional, but it has served its purpose as it exposes to a great extent the societal ill of incestuous rape. To further emphasise this, the story of 13- year- old Ochanya is worth telling here. Just last week, she died as a result of complications and Vesicovaginal Fistula. The victim was said to have been severely molested by her uncle, Mr Andrew Ogboja and his son, Victor Ogboja consistently took turns on her every night.

Ochanya became an object of sexual molestation when she started living with the family after her mother’s death and her father remarried. The evil act was said to have began since the victim was 9. She took ill very many times and collapsed at other times as she was sometimes drugged by the culprits. She however lost the battle to the cold hands of death as she breathed her last at the Benue Teaching Hospital, Makurdi.

Ochanya’s story is not the first, and certainly will not be the last. Cases of daughters and nieces being raped by their fathers and uncles respectively is an everyday phenomenon. Mothers also raping their sons is something that is also trending the internet. The most unfortunate thing is that these cases always end up covered as issues that can be solved within the family. However, rape and incestuous rape is and will remain a societal menace that requires the attention of everyone in the society. Will Ochanya ever get justice or will the case be dismissed as a family issue as it has been with some other cases? Incestuous rape has become a maj or topic of discussion for many as it is the case with rape, as evil as rape sounds, incestuous rape is in itself worse.

It is quite disheartening that as widely as these issues are talked about, most cases are not reported. Cases of incestuous rape especially are not taken to court for proper address because they are regarded as issues that can be solved within the family, denying the victims justice in the long run. Treating incestuous rape as an issue of family concern not only robs the victim of justice, it also encourages the pervert in that family to carry on with the act. This then in turn encourages the act in the society as a whole. Some perverts will prefer to rape their family member because obviously the case will be handled in a way that makes them escape punishment.

They therefore pick on their family members because their chance of escaping punishment is very high. A father rapes his daughters and still continues even when the family members are aware of it. What does this explain? It shows that the case only ended in a family meeting where it was decided that the victim should be sent to live with a far away aunt just to protect the image of the family. The pervert picks on another victim and the vicious circle continues.

It is high time incestuous rape gained recognition as a social menace to enable the victims get their lives back. When cases of incestuous rape keep getting coveted and dedicated as a family secret, the victim has not only been cheated, he /she has been denied the access to live a normal live again. Cases of rape that have been reported not only give justice to the victims, they are also rehabilitated into the society, allowing them to live normal lives. The story is however different with the case of incestuous rape that was not reported. The best thing that can be done for the victim is to send him/her to live with a far away relative but this does not guarantee a normal life. The victim still carries the scar and the handed, no rehabilitation takes place because the problem has to remain a family secret. He/she is the made adjust and live like a bird with broken wings.

The society as a whole is then in danger because it will be producing broken men and women who do not consider themselves useful to the society because of the scar they carry. It is a well known fact that individuals make up a society and each individual’s contribution is crucial to the progress of the society. However, what happens when a larger percent of the society comprise broken minds?
What then can be done to address the Issue? Victims should speak out regardless of the pains or threats. Do not keep it to yourself, ask for help. The family and the society also have a role to play by being supportive and wading any form of stigmatization.