Four-year-old Rebecca (not real name) was a normal baby when she was born. She was bubbling with life, but following several sexual assaults on her by her 37-year-old father, identified as Ademola, little Rebecca has lost her voice. She has not been able to talk for the past few weeks.
She looked forlornly and occasionally fell asleep in the arms of her mother, Folake, 32, who was visibly distressed as she explained to Saturday PUNCH how her husband of 14 years had been molesting their daughter.
Blessed with four children; three girls, including a set of twins, and a boy, she reminisced about how they used to live as one (happy) family in the Igando area of Lagos before things took a grim turn and she caught her husband committing one of the most gruesome crimes against their second daughter – sexual assault.
She noted that apart from having sexual intercourse with the little girl on several occasions, she had caught her husband inserting his finger into her private part more than once, all of which had traumatised Rebecca and made her a shadow of her real self.
The unfortunate incident seems to be tearing the family further apart as she has not only moved out of the house; she has vowed never to return, whilst accusing her husband of being diabolical.
She began, “It started in 2013 when I suddenly woke up one night and saw my husband removing the panties of my daughter. It was in the midnight. I wanted to shout but I wanted to see what he was up to. So, I pretended as if I didn’t see him because the room was relatively dark.
“When he pulled down her pant, he looked around and when he felt convinced that everyone was deep asleep, he stood up and moved to where the girl was and dipped his hand in her private part. I screamed.
“To say I was shocked was to say the least. He was shocked too because he didn’t know anyone was watching, so he quickly stood up, pulled up his trousers and started beating me.”
According to Folake, the experience she had that night was enough for her to leave his house, but she said she had to stay because she was already pregnant for him at the time.
She continued, “He beat me that night such that blood came out of my body. I didn’t even know I was pregnant until that night and the pregnancy was about two months old. I ran away from him for some time and I told my relatives. But I had to go back because of the pregnancy and that was when I had a set of twins for him.”
To Folake, her husband had turned a new leaf and would never do such a despicable act again, but unknown to her, other things had been going on without her knowledge. She said the straw that broke the camel’s back happened on July 17, 2015 when she caught him molesting her daughter again the same way he did before.
With her eyes soaked in tears, she said, “I thought he had stopped until the night of July 17, 2015 around 1am. It was a Friday. Rebecca was sleeping beside me but I saw him stand up, he carried the girl to the other side of the bed. He didn’t know I was awake. I had wanted to shout but I wanted to know what he was up to again. So, he removed his trousers, turned his back at me and crawled to where Rebecca was lying.
“He didn’t know I was looking at him. He pulled down her panties and started inserting his finger in her private part again. I thought I was dreaming. I screamed and continued shouting. He was shocked and couldn’t talk. He was just looking. Then, he went back to sleep.
“The following morning, I challenged him why he was doing that to his own child. I know he is diabolical, so I told him if his plan was to use my daughter for anything evil, he would not prosper. That was what got him angry and he started beating me. He said he would kill me. Then, my other children started crying and shouting, and he didn’t stop until one of our neighbours intervened.
“The following day, I went to the church to report to the shepherd of the church he was attending, Celestial Church of Christ, somewhere around Ikotun in Alimosho Local Government. The shepherd was shocked too but
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