› ƒ—– •–‘’’‡† ‡ ˆ”‘ ”‡’‘”–‹‰ ƒ„—•‡ Ȃ •—”˜‹˜‘” ȋͳͺȌ
MBABANE – An 18-yearold pupil has narrated how a family member allegedly silenced her from reporting an abuse case to the police.
*Sindi alleged that her relative, whom she only identified as aunty, warned her against reporting a male relative who abused her emotionally and physically on numerous occasions.
“My aunt said I should not report the matter to the police, because I have no alternative place to live. She told me that she feared that I might be forced out of the family home once I report the abuse to the police,” she alleged.
It should be noted that concealing any form of abuse is now a prosecutable offence under the Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence (SODV) Act of 2018. The law seeks to guard against harassment, embarrassment, emotional, physical, financial, sexual abuse against humanity.
Police
The law provides that any person who fails to report abuse to the police shall be dealt with by the law.
Asked to elaborate on the nature of the abuse, Sindi stated that she lived with her father’s relatives (Kagogo). She stated that among the family members, there was *Musa who puts food on the table. She stated that Musa had on numerous occasions lured her into sexual intercourse with him. She claimed that Musa took advantage of her at night until one of her friends intervened.
“He had on numerous occasions tried to lure me into having sexual intercourse with him, but I refused. As a result of my refusal, Musa became violent towards me. He started accusing me of ill-treating his lovers and further threatened to deal with me. He demanded me to return everything that he bought for me, including underwear,” she claimed.
She stated that she reported the predicament to her father who only advised her to report the matter to the police. Means to get a comment from the alleged perpetrator proved futile, as his cellphone was not available on the network for the whole weekend.
Asked if he was aware of the alleged abuse of his daughter, *Mandla said he heard about the matter. However, he said he did not act on it, because it was not formally reported to him.
Seriousness
“My daughter spoke about the abuse but, she did not seem serious about it. I would have directly engaged the perpetrator had it not been the lack of seriousness from my daughter. At times, our children speak the truth or sometimes lie, so parents have a duty to verify facts before acting on a matter,” he said.
Mandla also confirmed that he did not live with his daughter. He claimed that his daughter lived with his relatives so that she could be closer to school.
Mandla stated that he was a single parent, since Sindi’s mother disappeared when she was doing Grade V. He stated that he tried but failed to locate her. There was another version of events, that states Sindi had been home since last week Friday due to owed school fees. When asked about that Sindi responded to the positive. Her father also confirmed having heard that his daughter was not at school. However, he stated that there was nothing formal communicated to him to that effect.
“My daughter spoke about her being sent home when she saw me on my way to a funeral. We did not talk further about it. I survive through odd jobs. However, being unemployed is not an excuse to neglect my child. I have to try by all means to have her in class. I am trying and I will always try,” he said.
Mandla stated that it was not a good thing for parents to neglect their children. This he said was because children turned to hate their parents for failing to take responsibility. He said he was still energetic at 51-years-old and looking for anyone who could offer him a job so that he could cater for the education of his daughter.
He stated that he had been made aware that his daughter had left the family where she was allegedly subjected to abuse.
Worth noting is that, the Minister of Education and Training, Lady Mabuza came out clearly stating that children should not be sent home for owing school fees. This, the minister said was to ensure that pupils did not miss out on lessons because payment of school fees was not their responsibility but that of parents.
Law
Government also made it clear that parents would face the wrath of the law for failing to cater for the education of their children.
Meanwhile, a concerned resident said *Sindi needed constant help in order to survive. The resident shared that she tried all in her powers to help the child after learning about her situation. The concerned citizen appealed to anyone who might wish to lend a helping hand to contact her at 7904 9434.
*Not real name to protect survivor