BRUTALIZED FOR REFUSING SEX

• How my landlord, brother molested me

At 37, Princess Izuchukwu Ajuobi, is a beautiful woman by all standards. Her beauty is such that attracts the attention of men, despite the fact that she’s a mother of two.

However, this beautiful woman is disabled in one leg and one hand. She was born with the deformity. Although Ajuobi is not bothered about her deformity, there’s one thing that takes away her happiness. It’s the fact that people take advantage of her condition to molest her. One of such experiences is her raw deal with her landlord and his brother. She was molested and beaten blue and black. Her offence? She refused to have sex with the two men involved.

Narrating her ordeal to Daily Sun, Ajuobi said: "I had vowed to remain a virgin till the day I would marry, until a man strolled into my life, swearing by his life that I was the angel he was looking for. I fell for his tricks and he deflowered me in the name of marriage,  only for him to throw me out,  after having two boys for him. I decided to move ahead with  life.

As a single mother living with children, every one wants to have sex with me. It happens to all women. Even when you decline they will start looking for a way to harm you. It is worst when you are disabled, like me and you cannot fight for yourself.

Men take advantage of your condition to do you wrong. That was my situation." 

On what happened in her case, she stated: 

"In April, 2011, I packed into an apartment I paid for in April, 2011. Three months after I moved in, my landlord’s brother, Uwahamaka, started approaching me for sex.

My landlord, who hails from Umuokpuru, Afarata, Ibeku, also made advances to me. Both of them  would come at night or at odd hours during the day to knock at my door, asking me to open. They would boldly tell me that they wanted to sleep with me. "When my landlord’s brother is not around,  my landlord would tell me not mind him, stating that he was not responsible.

The landlord would say that he was the one that would treat me well, asking me to befriend him. I looked at myself and said, is it because I am in this condition that a man, who is old enough to be my grand father, would be angling to sleep with me? My landlord is over 60 years.

It is as a result of my refusing him and his brother sex that is makes them angry." 

On harassment The women stated: "My landlord would come knocking on my door, asking me to open for him, for us to have sex. I would always tell him that I don’t want to do anything with him. They want to make me a sex toy. My refusal infuriated them both  and they vowed to deal with me.

That was the beginning of my problem.  One day, I was cooking for my children and Uwahamaka came and started abusing me, calling me names, for no reason. I refused to talk back at him. He accused me of splashing water on his door and started breaking my rubber containers.

Before I could do anything, he threw away the rice I was cooking. "He came after me with chain and cutlass, threatening to cut off my remaining leg. He started beating me, to the point of attempting to push me into the fire. He did hit my artificial leg with chain causing it to break. I crashed to the ground like a bag of sand, having lost control of my supporting leg."

Ajuobi stated that she made a report to the police, leading to the arrest of the man. "The police arrested him, after which they mandated him to buy my artificial leg. He told the police  that he would not pay, that the matter should be charged to court. It was after this that  they started maltreating me in their yard. They started   closing the gate at 7 p. m., just to frustrate me. My landlord said that if I don’t pack out of his house, he would make me blind and nothing will happen since his kinsman from Ibeku is the governor.

He  gave me quit notice, even when my rent is still running. "I traveled to my  village in Ikwuano to stay because they were always coming to my room to attack me. They usually beat me up and flog me mercilessly.  One day,  I told my brother how they were maltreating me and he went to them to ask them why. They threatened to deal with him. I have found an accommodation, but I have no money to pay. Now, they have driven me out of their house, while my rent has not expired.

"On April 16, I came back from the village, with one of my uncles, who was to travel to Lagos the following day. They started to molest me, as usual and eventually  hit me with a stone  on the hand that was deformed. We got to the house around 8.30 pm and they blocked my door, insisting that my uncle would not enter.

They accused me of bringing my boyfriend and said I he would not sleep there. I must say that whenever any male visitor comes to my house, they would get angry.  

The vicious attack  

"When later I opened my door and entered, his daughter in-law, Ngozi, entered my room and started slapping me, in the presence of my uncle, just to cause a fight.

My uncle asked her to stop, but she refused and then my landlord came into the room and asked my uncle who he was. My uncle told him that he was my brother and my landlord ordered him to leave and the time was about midnight. They putt off the lights and also beat my uncle. They pursued him out and closed the gate on him around midnight. They attacked me thereafter and I passed out. “They took away my bag containing N200,000, which I was given at the village  to pay for a house.

When I regained consciousness, Uwahamaka again hit me with a stick. I passed out again, only to regain later. When I regained consciousness, I started shouting for help, but there was nobody to help me because they had closed the gate. In the morning, I took my kids to the police station and reported the matter a second time. "The police did nothing. I don’t know if they had thrown my things away. I am now homeless, hanging from place to place with my children.

That is my predicament. I want the world to know. They say that there is nothing I can do to them. I am calling on the relevant authorities to come to my aid. I am a graduate of Accountancy and I need job to take care of my children, any type of job. Sometimes I feel that life has not been fair to me. This has even affected my children’s schooling because we don’t have a place of my own. I don’t have any money to hire a lawyer and they know this."

In their statements of defence at the police Area Command, Umuahia, the landlord and his brother alleged that Ajuobi scaled the fence into their compound at an odd hour with her uncle and children, causing them to confront them.

However, a police source that pleaded anonymity told Daily Sun  that the investigation they conducted revealed that  Ajuobi could not have scaled any fence with her bad leg and hand, as alleged. A medical report from Federal Medical Center, Umuahia, where Ajuobi was treated confirmed that she sustained injuries as a result of beatings she received.

Daily Sun