Dowdow, Kolahun District – At the tail end of an elaborate observation of the 16 days of activism, with a recommitment from government, local and international NGOs to end all forms of violence against women, cases of gender-based violence especially in rural Liberia clearly show that defeating this menace is a mammoth task that needs to be tackled holistically.
Report by: Arthur Kowah, FPA Contributor ; [email protected]
The recent gruesome rape of a 18-year-old girl in Lofa county is the latest incident that has eclipsed the just ended 16 days of Activism in the county.
Korpo (not her real name) is currently at the Kolahun Hospital in Lofa County where she is responding to treatment after her boyfriend Patrick S. Ballah, 22, allegedly brutalized and rape and then inserted a stick in her genital.
According to witnesses, the situation which finally culminated into a near-death experience for the 18-year-old school-going Korpo on Saturday, December 8, 2018, was preceded by series of accusations from Ballah that his wife was having extra affairs with some boys in the nearby town of Kamatahun where she attends school.
The couple has two children and has been in relationship for 6 years until recently when the relationship started to sour.
On Friday, December 7, 2018, Korpo explained that she had gone to attend a night dance organized by her school in Kamatahun where she was later pursued by her spouse. She recalled how Ballah and “threatened” her life.
“When he came to the dance he said the thing that brought you here, you will tell me when you come home. Because it was late and I was afraid because he usually beats me, that’s how I decided to sleep with my friend and go the next day”, she said.
Korpo narrated that when she got home the next day, Ballah started to make confusion with her but he was later calmed by her mother.
“My mother said we should stop the confusion and make arrangement to harvest our (i.e korpo and Ballah’s) swamp rice which was already ripe”.
She furthered: “when we got to the swamp and started harvesting, Ballah then said didn’t I tell you I was going to catch you? That’s how he said he will do to me the same thing I was doing the previous night and kill me in the swamp”.
Korpo alleged that Ballah started to beat on her severely and pushed her head in the swamp and said “he would kill me”.
Korpo said for fear of a cutlass that was nearby during the scuffle in the swamp, she pleaded with Ballah for them to move on from the swamp and to the shores.
“As soon as we got there, he swept my two feet from under me and started beating me and punching my eyes. After he overpowered me, he tore my clothes and started having sex with me. When he finished with me, he bit my genital with his teeth and then put stick inside me”, Korpo explained while sharing tears.
She said while she was still lying down helplessly, Ballah took another big stick and said he was going to use it to kill her.
“He said I am going to push this stick in you until you die right here”, she said, “As he attempted implementing his goal, a palm wine tapper identified as Dickson Ngaima luckily arrived on the scene. That’s how Ballah fled in the bush.
Ballah had since been at large but was finally apprehended Tuesday, December 12, 2018 when men of the various towns launched a manhunt for him. He is currently in Police custody in Foya district ahead of a trial.
Ballah admitted to severely beating his wife but denied using a stick on her.
“To admit, I really beat her because I was not even to myself; I was very angry. But I didn’t use stick on her”, Ballah told FrontPage Africa.
Korpo is currently recovering at the Kolahun Hospital in Kolba City, Kolahun District where health authorities have declined making comments about her condition due to patient confidentiality.
The incident echoes the unending threats against women in the country despite calls to end violence against women during this year’s 16 Days of Activism.
From 25 November, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, to 10 December, Human Rights Day, the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence Campaign is a time to galvanize action to end violence against women and girls around the world.
The international campaign originated from the first Women’s Global Leadership Institute coordinated by the Center for Women’s Global Leadership in 1991.
Launching this year’s celebrations at the Antoinette Tubman Stadium in Monrovia on November 26,, President George Weah called himself “Feminist in Chief” stressing that his government would provide every necessary support to efforts aimed at fighting violence against women and promoting gender equality.
He urged Liberian women to stand up for their rights and resist all forms of violence against them.
The Liberian leader said the fight against gender-based violence in Liberia, coupled with the need to improve women, has reached a point that requires the collective action of all and not government alone.