Judith after the attack
I hear strange voices in my head –
Victim
The physical damage done to 23-year-old Judith
(not real name) the day she was raped by hoodlums
on August 28, may be the least of her problems as
her family has raised the alarm over the strange
ways she now behaves.
Her aunt, whom she currently lives with around
Oshodi, Lagos, told our correspondent that she
sometimes suddenly lapsed into a fit of laughter for
no particular reason.
“When she does that and I ask why she is
laughing, she stops and says nothing.
Sometimes, she could sleep for more than 12 hours
at a stretch. In fear, I would wake her up but she
would simply say, ‘leave me alone’. Another time, she
might not eat for so many hours and when I offer
her food, she rejects it and goes to sleep,” the woman
told Saturday Gist.
Saturday Gist had reported last week that
Judith was forced to smoke Indian hemp by
hoodlums who then raped her on Sunday, August
28.
She was allegedly raped by two men identified as
Monaco and Wasiu at 106, Lagos-Abeokuta
Expressway, Dopemu, as she made her way home
around 10pm from her aunt’s stall around Pako Bus
Stop. The suspects are still on the run.
A third suspect, Olanrewaju Osinubi, was arrested
in connection with the rape. The family had alleged
that Osinubi boasted to them that he was the one
who gave Indian hemp to the victim, claiming that
she took it willingly.
But the police had charged Osinubi to court for
obstructing the police when they wanted to arrest
Monaco and Wasiu, allowing them to escape.
Judith has since been bedridden as the police say
they are still in search for Monaco and Wasiu.
However, when our correspondent visited Judith in
company with officials of the Esther Child Rights
Foundation handling her case on Wednesday, she sat
glumly, merely looking at the faces of the people
present.
When asked what she could remember of what
happened about the incident of that day, Judith
initially said, “Nothing happened now.”
After some minutes, without being prompted, she
said, “Some people are talking to me in my head. I
am hearing voices.”
It was apparent there were many details she could
not recall of what happened that day.
But after much prompting and many minutes going
by without her saying anything but merely staring
into space, Judith said, “The one they arrested
(Osinubi) held me and said I should sit beside him
in front of the shop. He put the Indian hemp in my
mouth.
“One of his friends, who was one of the two that
raped me also told me I must smoke from his own
too. I cannot remember if I shouted or not but I
remember that after the first one raped me inside
the shop, they took me into the bathroom in the
house and said I must bathe.
“After I bathed, I wore my clothes and was about
to run out of the house when the other one grabbed
me again and also raped me. After that, I remember
searching for my slippers. I did not know where
they were.”
Saturday Gist gathered that Judith had just
secured an admission at the Kogi State University,
Ayingba, and was looking forward to a screening at
the school. Judith’s uncle told our correspondent that
her case was not one that the family could handle
alone.
He said officials of the Lagos Government had
visited Judith and hoped that they would indeed do
something.
Coordinator of the Lagos State Domestic and Social
Violence Response Team, Mrs. Lola Vivour-Adeniyi,
told Saturday Gist that the government had
now taken up Judith’s case to get her treated.
She said, “In fact, her first session with a clinical
psychologist that we have booked her with, is likely
to come up on Saturday.
We are also working with the police and the Lagos
State Office of the Public Defender to ensure that
the due diligence is done on the investigation.
“Our concern is to ensure the lady gets the necessary
treatment while the suspects are apprehended as
soon as possible.
“Whoever has information that will help to track
and apprehend the suspects should give such
information anonymously.”
