Growing up a lot of us must have had that uncle who was generous at giving candy and little tokens to kids. For every child that uncle was revered and trusted without hesitation, submitting to every demand that was made by him, as long as the gifts kept coming. Children have a tendency to trust easily, notwithstanding the fact that the world is filled with people of inhumane cruelty. 

Such was an experience I and my sister suffered during our childhood. Surprisingly I only got to know her experience much later after the incident took place.  

An uncle we held in high regard back then brought upon us scars that will last a lifetime. I still remember those days as if it happened just yesterday; behind his generosity and jovial demeanor was a man of ardent wickedness and selfishness. 

That dear uncle on occasions I cannot put a number to preyed on my innocence as a child and did the most despicable act that has left me with nothing but pain and a lifetime of regret. “Come let’s hide here, nobody will see us,” he said, as he took me inside the bedroom I shared with my sister and took off my underwear, he used his hand and touched my private parts, then he’ll just smile and look at me. I stood there with absolutely no clue as to what was happening. That particular day we were doing a general cleaning of our house and he came by to help not knowing he had a motive behind that. As my mum stepped out to get something that was when he capitalized on that opportunity and did that act. 

However, that wasn’t the first time he did that with me and it certainly wasn’t the last. On another occasion, I had gone with him to his house as he promised to give me a gift, I clearly remember a friend of his was around and I was outside playing with the other children at the compound. He waited till the friend left and nobody was around, he called me inside and laid me on the bed he shared with his wife and pulled down my trouser and underwear and again repeated the act of touching me in private places. To this day, I can’t fathom what pleasure he got out of that. 

Unfortunately for my sister, it happened several times. There was a day he took her to our parents' bedroom while no one was around and repeated the despicable act. As days went by, he requested my sister to help her clean his house, it was as if she knew what was going to happen. My sister dressed in layers and put a knife in her pocket. As expected, he approached her and that was when she took the knife out to stab him and the wife walked in. Due to one man's act, a 9-year-old's life got ruined and she’s left with so much pain and hatred. 

In a state of confusion, I didn’t know how to describe that to anyone in my family, not even my parents; I simply didn’t know what was going on, I was just a five or six-year-old naive girl. To this day, I’ve kept blaming myself for that incident and it gets even more frustrating as I get older. 

Parents need to do better when it comes to communicating with their children and not leaving them at the mercy of every Tom and Harry. Pedophiles like this man are everywhere and they’re hidden behind the mask of fake compassion towards children. 

Sadly a lot of innocent victims continue to suffer in silence as they are not confident enough to share their experiences and even if they do, there are those that cover up the perpetrator and this only leads to them preying on others.

JT

France