Rape is not a joke
A post about rape insensitivity made me remember an experience that happened many years ago. I went to see a friend staying off campus, she just moved to that compound.
The house was built like a family house setting. So I thought she and another guy were the only students living in the compound. I called her that I would be coming to her house a day earlier, on getting there, she wasn't around but left her door opened.
Few minutes later, I heard someone shouting somebody help me in "hausa", please stop. I thought it was siblings playing rough or fighting each other.
My friend's room was like a room and parlour. Like she rented the parlour, and another family was living in the room which has an exit in another side.
I went into the compound, saw some guys outside sitting infront of the house someone was crying for help. I saw them like nothing was going on. It was my first time there, so I thought it was nothing. I greeted them and went back to my friend's room.
The next minute, the shouting stopped. I thought the guys scolded them to stop their play.
Two hours later, my friend came and I told her the kids in your compound are too playful, how do you manage to study? She said "Everyone in this compound are students". She said a 300l male student lives in the other room.
I was confused. While arguing that, the other guy that I thought made the two of them the only students came and asked my friend, did you hear that this guy raped someone a female course mate today?
What! We both said! I felt bad and hurt that a lady was raped and I didn't do anything about it.
It became more painful to think that guys were outside the house, knew what was happening, but instead joined in the act by protecting the rapist and pretended nothing happened.
I didn't see the lady when she left, but I felt sorry that she cried for help, and the only person that could have done something "myself" couldn't do anything because I didn't know what was going on.
Have you ever walked into a place where someone was being raped or you knew when it happened but couldn't help?