Demented husband ravages step-daughter

She lost her father when she was eight and her mother re-married four years later. That was when Pamela (not her real name), began to experience sexual and physical abuse.

The abuse by her step-father with the connivance of her mother caused severe pain that resulted in permanent scars on her back and head. "I was 12-years-old then. When I came home, my mother asked me to go straight to my room and sleep. The lock on the door was removed that day. While sleeping, my step-father came into the room and forced himself on me without removing my sleeping attire.

"I screamed but he hit me in my face while he covered me with a blanket. The first time I was raped, I thought my mother did not know and he threatened to beat me up if I told anyone. He continued to rape me without any form of protection," she says.

Editor's Comment
Human rights are sacred

It highlights the need to protect rights such as access to clean water, education, healthcare and freedom of expression.President Duma Boko, rightly honours past interventions from securing a dignified burial for Gaoberekwe Pitseng in the CKGR to promoting linguistic inclusion. Yet, they also expose a critical truth, that a nation cannot sustainably protect its people through ad hoc acts of compassion alone.It is time for both government and the...

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