Many bizarre stories come out of Nigeria
these days, but the one that came out of Gusau, Zamfara State this
weekend will surely rank as a world-beater.
According to the police prosecutors
three women, Hannatu Ibrahim [23], Wosila Hassan [20] and Rukayya Hassan
[21] conspired among themselves and serially raped Abdulrahman until he
lost consciousness! How did this happen? The prosecutors said they
lured him into a corner of the Women’s Centre, where they “forced” him
to have sex with them in turn until poor Abdulrahman fell unconscious.
It was said that he was rushed to hospital, where he was resuscitated.
The three women have now been remanded in prison custody until Monday
next week, when witnesses will be called to the court to testify against
them.
I suspect that half of Gusau town will
turn up in court on that day to hear the evidence against the three
“conspirators.” If the three women and the man in question actually did
what they were alleged to have done
1] at a preaching session
2] during
the month of Ramadan
3] when the centre was brimming with other women
and children, then it will be a new low in religious morality in this
part of the world.
The evidence will however be very
interesting and it may force this country’s lawyers and jurists to have
to rewrite the law on rape. Some years ago, I heard a senior lawyer say
on television that the law on rape as it stands today does not envisage a
woman raping a man, unless if he is a minor who is seduced by a much
older woman. Otherwise, the lawyer said, “a woman cannot really rape a
man because it requires his willing cooperation” to effect the act.
It will be interesting to see if the
witnesses will say Abdulrahman shouted for help while he was being
raped. Or what the three women used to force his cooperation---a gun or a
knife, for instance. Anatomically speaking, while a man can
successfully rape a woman who is not cooperating but who goes limp at
gunpoint, the same can hardly be said of the reverse case. A man who has
a gun or a knife pointed at him and goes limp cannot be successfully
raped!
My only fear with this story is that
many men in Gusau and around this Nigeria will wistfully wish that they
were the ones that were raped. Mark you, the three alleged
“conspirators” are young women hardly out of teen ages. They will find
many willing takers in Gusau and elsewhere in Nigeria without resorting
to any force! In fact, if someone were to call for male volunteers to be
raped, in this Nigeria, the queues will be longer than the men who
lined up at the Hisbah Office in Kano to marry widows and divorcees!