You're Not A Man...You Are Sick!

A few weeks ago, on a bright Monday morning, a 26 year old lady walked into my consulting room in the hospital. She greeted courteously and i responded without looking up, as i was reading a message on my phone at the time. Without still looking at her face, i offered her a seat and she took it and pushed a letter in front of me on the table. At that point, i looked up briefly, she was a fairly pretty lady and i picked up the folded paper. As i read it, i looked up again at her expressionless face and kept reading. It was a referral note from a health center to my center, the first paragraph hit me and my spirit immediately sank. She had been raped a day before and was sent to us for management. She looked like a bright young lady who had suddenly developed anhedonia and i could only imagine what she was going through. She claimed she was picked up somewhere in Victoria Island and she woke up somewhere in Ipaja in the company of some men and recalled vividly how she was defiled by these animals. It was indeed one of the saddest stories i had ever heard in my practice, and trust me, i had heard quite a number of them.

Rape is a criminal offence, not just a physical assault but an emotional and social one at that. Rape is a form of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse initiated by a person or a group of persons without the consent, either written or oral, of the victim. Some societies and schools of thought occasionally choose to further define rape based on penetration or no penetration, a point of view which i strongly believe is imbecilic and mentally arid. Sex doesn't begin or end with penetration, there are other forms of it besides penetrative sex and as long as there was no consent, it is rape.

I have tried to think back and try to recall the day i was seated in my Psychiatry lecture room in medical school, learning about Sexual Deviations from Dr. P.C. Stanley, a Consultant Psychiatrist. I still  cannot recall if he mentioned rape that day, even though i remember vividly he mentioned homosexuality, beastiality, voyeurism, etc. In case he didn't then i believe the Association of Nigerian Psychiatrists should review their list of sexual deviation disorders and place rape at the top of that list. To me, there's no greater mental disorder than rape.

In the Nigerian law, it is stated that 'Any person who has unlawful carnal knowledge of a woman or girl, without her consent, or with her consent, if the consent is obtained by force or by means of threats or intimidation of any kind, or by fear of harm, or by means of false and fraudulent representation as to the nature of the act, is guilty of an offence called rape'. It however goes on to say 'Any person who commits the offence of rape is liable to imprisonment for life, with or without caning' and also 'Any person who attempts to commit the offence of rape is guilty of a felony and is liable to imprisonment for 14 years, with or without caning'. I have my reservations about this law as i believe we have something bigger than just a felony or a criminal offence on our hands. My thoughts would however be elucidated in due course.

I was once an avid fan of John Grisham, even though i'm not really a big fan of lawyers, he tried, albeit unsuccessfully, to endear me to lawyers. A few years ago, i had the privilege of purchasing and reading one of his best works in the form of the novel called 'A Time To Kill'. I couldn't drop that book till i saw the back cover, it was that riveting and spellbinding. I however became even more captivated when i saw the film re-enactment of the story starring Samuel L.Jackson and Kiefer Sutherland. For those who are not familiar with the story, basically two racist white boys raped the ten year old daughter of a black man and he simply took laws into his own hand and served jungle justice on the two by killing them in cold blood. I am not advocating for self executed justice but i certainly understand the actions of the character played by Samuel Jackson. His only daughter had been scarred mentally and physically as it was discovered the damage inflicted on her by these boys was bad enough to render her infertile in her reproductive years. This is the cross alot of women today have to live with, even in our present day Nigeria.

Back to the laws of Nigeria. Lately there has been a surge in cases of rape in our country, from the sickening ABSU-5 to the thirteen year old raped by the policeman in Ekiti to the child raped by her schoolteacher some weeks ago. Life imprisonment with or without caning and fourteen years with or without caning for attempted rape to me seem passive. The country is hard enough and with the types of men around these days a more proactive stand must be taken to protect our women from this dastardly act. What do i propose? Thank you for asking me. First, we must take into cognizance that we are dealing with a mentally ill man and we must therefore treat him the way herbivores with Mad Cow's disease are treated. The rapist should first all be brought on national television and paraded with his family members in attendance for everyone to see. Caning is rather lenient, if you ask me, the criminal investigators at SCID Panti have more imaginative and coercive means of eliciting confessions. Why don't we invite them over to help us 'prep' us this man for the punishment that awaits him for raping another man's wife, daughter, sister or mother. After a convincing and inspiring 'chat' with our dear friends at SCID, the rapist can proceed to Federal Neuropsychiatric Hospital at Yaba. There, the staff of the Electro-Convulsive Therapy Unit will await his visit. An hourly session of ECT every four hours for a week aired live for all to see will suffice. He can then proceed to the traditional religious bodies, where demons are exorcised by whipping and scarification. He can then be committed to commence his life long sentence with hard labour. The punishment must and should be multi-departmental as the the nature of the illness and the crime is also multifaceted.

I have heard from some quarters that rape isn't always about sex but about power, that the man wants to feel 'masculine' so he overpowers a weaker being and rapes her. Another jejune and mentally bankrupt submission in my opinion. Rape is not about power, rape is a sadistic and anti-social act perpetrated by a mentally damaged and emotionally anaesthesized fellow. It has nothing to do with power and it never will. We should begin to consider genital amputation for any fellow found to have committed such an offense. To leave another human being emotionally scarred for life is definitely not about power. Such a depraved fellow is better off dead and justice should and must be tendered without any iota of mercy.

I will however implore women to remain careful and watchful. Sometimes, these things are avoidable. Be careful where you hang out and with whom you hang out. Nigerian girls have fallen prey to some of these predators simply for the quest for a good time and things have led to other things. Occasionally, its beyond their control and they just happen to be the wrong place at the wrong time and can't do anything about the sequel events. I also wish to mention the mischievous ones who are quick to cry rape once they have a score to settle with a guy and seek a way to implicate such a fellow. Remember there's a God and He sees all, if you have been truly raped, by all means, speak up and let the person be prosecuted but if you falsely accuse a man for other reasons, remember 'what goes around,comes around'.

Some people have advocated for firmer and sterner laws on rape in Nigeria. I totally agree. It is time these 'men' are put in check. Our judiciary must be impeccable as our forensic criminal investigators. Our government must show seriousness in tackling this highly ungodly acts. Finally, our homes, we must go back to our homes. These rapists are born of women and the quality of parenting should be scrutinized. We are missing it at the nuclear level, we need to teach children the ways of God. The Good Book says 'Train up a child in the way of God and when he grows up,he shall not depart from it'. Children learn more these days from the internet and televisions than from their parents and Sunday schools. We must return to the basics and ask the Lord to guide us.

I will however pray, in closing, for all my female friends and family members, may you never be at the wrong place at the wrong time. God will keep you all from harm. (Amen)