Opinion / Columnist
Headmistress Mrs. Joice Tapfumaneyi, I salute my heroine!
2 hrs ago |
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We have heroes and heroines in our midst.
We should all be proud of a Seventh Day Adventist institution that did not shy away from reporting heinous crimes against children. I was deeply moved by the actions of Headmistress Mrs. Joice Tapfumaneyi. By the faith you hold dear, Amai Tapfumaneyi, your reward is abundant. You will find grace in the Lord - together with your staff members who had the courage to uncover brutality against a girl-child.
You are the beautiful one chosen to serve mankind. The philosophy of Ubuntu is fulfilled by assisting a helpless child at the jaws of modern barbarism. The girl needed your attention - and you gave it at the right time. You reported the Mudzinganyama family to the police, as the case demanded justice for crimes against humanity.
Knowing how the justice system works in Zimbabwe, they did not disappoint.
You are great, dear sister. Your work in serving the Lord will be acknowledged tenfold by the universe. You are one of the few who hear the cries of the downtrodden - the lowly, the forgotten, the oppressed. Your reward is great in heaven.
Children suffer in silence most of the time. They don't understand why they are criminally handled by those they trust. Seeing the wounds on this girl will break many hearts. Her stepmother beat her brutally - not once, but repeatedly.
A harrowing cycle of abuse spanning years. The father and stepmother shamelessly tried to conceal the crime, shifting blame onto the child. This sounds familiar. It happened to me too. Sexually abused at eight years old, I was told it was my fault. I had failed to sit properly - hence I was defiled. "You'll be a prostitute anyway," he said. Kajoki.
There are times when Zimbabwean courts get it right. Those who commit crimes against children face the full wrath of the law. The punishment is harsh - and rightfully so. The stepmother has since been convicted of ill-treatment and neglect under the Children's Act by the Mutare Provincial Magistrate's Court. Hallelujah!
We salute this conviction. But this case is just the tip of the iceberg. Millions of children live in criminal environments in Zimbabwe. The problem is that children are loyal and obedient to their guardians. They rarely report abuse on their own.
A social worker who breaks the global code of silence - why children don't report abuse - deserves a Nobel Peace Prize. Days ago, Bulawayo24 reported a stepfather who abused his underage stepdaughter until she became pregnant. Another article covered a 54-year-old man from Chiweshe sentenced to 30 years in prison for raping a 12-year-old girl - twice.
Precious Mudzinganyama had previously fought with her six-year-old stepson. Was he protecting his sister from harm? How do you beat a nine-year-old child with an electric cable? How do you burn her with melted plastic? The pictures of her injuries reveal a heinous and ruthless attack on a helpless child. She endured years of abuse - unseen by authorities.
Precious tried to conceal the wounds by pricking blisters and pouring spirit on them - causing more pain. The injuries exposed the crime. Madam Tapfumaneyi, informed by her honorable staff, investigated the girl's welfare. The headmistress, moved by the wounds on the girl's arms and back, rightfully reported the case to the police. The truth had to come out.
"She is stubborn - that's why she was beaten." What could a nine-year-old possibly do to deserve such cruelty? In homes like these, nothing pleases the guardians. Ridicule turns into beatings. Food is withheld. What glory is found in savagely beating a child?
This case touched me deeply - right into my nervous system. Writing this article is a warning to the dead and the living. Those who took advantage of my vulnerability: it's payback time. I am no longer vulnerable. I will tell my story - visually in a film, and powerfully in my book.
My book will be published soon. The perpetrators of crimes against me - whether hiding behind their fingers or buried in their graves - will be laid bare. The paedophiles who assaulted me, dead and alive, will be caught in the act. It won't be fun when they read the raw truth.
I am flipping the script. I am demanding justice - from the public, from readers, from institutions. I wrote the book carefully - to attract attention from the public and from academic institutions that will use it for research, education, and healing.
We should all be proud of a Seventh Day Adventist institution that did not shy away from reporting heinous crimes against children. I was deeply moved by the actions of Headmistress Mrs. Joice Tapfumaneyi. By the faith you hold dear, Amai Tapfumaneyi, your reward is abundant. You will find grace in the Lord - together with your staff members who had the courage to uncover brutality against a girl-child.
You are the beautiful one chosen to serve mankind. The philosophy of Ubuntu is fulfilled by assisting a helpless child at the jaws of modern barbarism. The girl needed your attention - and you gave it at the right time. You reported the Mudzinganyama family to the police, as the case demanded justice for crimes against humanity.
Knowing how the justice system works in Zimbabwe, they did not disappoint.
You are great, dear sister. Your work in serving the Lord will be acknowledged tenfold by the universe. You are one of the few who hear the cries of the downtrodden - the lowly, the forgotten, the oppressed. Your reward is great in heaven.
Children suffer in silence most of the time. They don't understand why they are criminally handled by those they trust. Seeing the wounds on this girl will break many hearts. Her stepmother beat her brutally - not once, but repeatedly.
A harrowing cycle of abuse spanning years. The father and stepmother shamelessly tried to conceal the crime, shifting blame onto the child. This sounds familiar. It happened to me too. Sexually abused at eight years old, I was told it was my fault. I had failed to sit properly - hence I was defiled. "You'll be a prostitute anyway," he said. Kajoki.
There are times when Zimbabwean courts get it right. Those who commit crimes against children face the full wrath of the law. The punishment is harsh - and rightfully so. The stepmother has since been convicted of ill-treatment and neglect under the Children's Act by the Mutare Provincial Magistrate's Court. Hallelujah!
A social worker who breaks the global code of silence - why children don't report abuse - deserves a Nobel Peace Prize. Days ago, Bulawayo24 reported a stepfather who abused his underage stepdaughter until she became pregnant. Another article covered a 54-year-old man from Chiweshe sentenced to 30 years in prison for raping a 12-year-old girl - twice.
Precious Mudzinganyama had previously fought with her six-year-old stepson. Was he protecting his sister from harm? How do you beat a nine-year-old child with an electric cable? How do you burn her with melted plastic? The pictures of her injuries reveal a heinous and ruthless attack on a helpless child. She endured years of abuse - unseen by authorities.
Precious tried to conceal the wounds by pricking blisters and pouring spirit on them - causing more pain. The injuries exposed the crime. Madam Tapfumaneyi, informed by her honorable staff, investigated the girl's welfare. The headmistress, moved by the wounds on the girl's arms and back, rightfully reported the case to the police. The truth had to come out.
"She is stubborn - that's why she was beaten." What could a nine-year-old possibly do to deserve such cruelty? In homes like these, nothing pleases the guardians. Ridicule turns into beatings. Food is withheld. What glory is found in savagely beating a child?
This case touched me deeply - right into my nervous system. Writing this article is a warning to the dead and the living. Those who took advantage of my vulnerability: it's payback time. I am no longer vulnerable. I will tell my story - visually in a film, and powerfully in my book.
My book will be published soon. The perpetrators of crimes against me - whether hiding behind their fingers or buried in their graves - will be laid bare. The paedophiles who assaulted me, dead and alive, will be caught in the act. It won't be fun when they read the raw truth.
I am flipping the script. I am demanding justice - from the public, from readers, from institutions. I wrote the book carefully - to attract attention from the public and from academic institutions that will use it for research, education, and healing.
Source - Nomazulu Thata
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