This was also posted on Profesy’s Version
On December 21, 2012 a businesswoman from Kyela in Mbeya faced a group of men who broke into the house she was staying in and was taken through the ordeal of being gang raped, beaten afterwards, and then taken from this world through the heinous act of beheading.
For those following the recent events in India you will spot a direct contrast in the way the media handled the rape issue there and how the media has covered it here.
In fact very little has been said to say the least at a time where the press could have taken advantage of such a situation, where rape is being reported so widely and vociferously at this point and time on an international scale.
It is nothing short of disappointing the way this story was covered, not just as a member of the fourth estate but also as a human being to say the least. Without a shadow of a doubt this goes beyond the media, but we possess the tools to change the status quo, or at least raise the awareness a story like this deserves. Also in doing follow up reports on stories not solely based on rape but human rights as a whole.
… Do we not have wives, sisters, mothers, aunts and nieces who might surely fall prey to the menace that is rape if more noise is not made about it?
Rape is about power, it is about causing deliberate harm to derive pleasure, it is a weapon to inflict physical and emotional scars. It is used as an orchestrated weapon, a way of social control. But apparently in this case it may have been due to witchcraft… The same reason we had the albino killings.
On the other hand I defend the media though, are there laws in place to change the way police handle rape cases? What about our constitution? What should the upcoming constitution say about how to handle rape altogether?
The process is long. Not only are the cases underreported, a low conviction rate further deters reporting. In 2010, I escorted a victim to a police station after robbers broke in, robbed, ate her food in front of her then raped her.
Try entering a police station to report an incident of rape and the queries are enough to stop pursuance of the case any further.
When an actor or entertainer dies in this country we see reactions from the people higher up that would match those they mourn. It would be nice to see the same reaction towards cases of rape as it is more than likely this sort of report could not have gone without relevant parties being informed. If not, we as the media should get their attention right?
As it stands sources say there were 112 reported cases of rape in 2012.
In the end, might this be the impression people get of Tanzania.
While rape is indeed horrible i think you cannot compare a woman being raped in her house and one who is raped on a bus in public.
When did the #DelhiOutrage start? Were there no rapes before then?
I think these are critical questions we need to ask ourselves when considering this case in Mbeya, the media’s desire to sell and the morbid nature of public interest.
I believe there is not difference between a woman raped in her house and a woman raped on a bus. Aren’t both rapes and don’t they both have the same consequenses for the victim and society? What triggered the Indian demonstrations was the intence and severity of this crime and the brutallity that was inflicted on the victim, as well as police tolerance in such crimes. The case reffered to this article is of even more brutality and severity than the case of the girl in India, as not only did they gang raped and beat her but then they killed her in a very brutal way!
You rase a very important issue in this article – the media should be more focused on bringing to public attention such issues and advocating for stopping crimes such as rape & assaults from happening and safeguard victims by making sure that the police, courts and other institutions implement laws correctly and protect the victims. This should expand to even investigating sexual assaults against housegirls.
I agree that the housegirl issue is one that should be highlighted because there are cases that the girl doesn’t realise she is being wronged. I agree with you Irini.
Miminimimi we need to look at the severity of both cases when comparing the cases. It is more than just rape and in some cases I think this was one of two things. 1) witchcraft or 2) A lovers feud. Either way I suspect by now the police have an answer and the media have not updated us.