Perspective: Stockade sexual, corrupt offenders

happy children

Stephen Mpofu
When young girls start to regard men other than their own fathers as human — or dangerous beast — rather than go-to protectors and helpers, then their society is under siege by moral decay, needing the hand of God to restore sanity.

That appears to be the dilemma in which innocent young girls in Zimbabwe find themselves today, if a picture of their plight as painted by a guardian of the law is anything to go by.

Speaking when he officially opened the Hwange circuit’s 2016 legal year on Monday Justice Francis Bere of the Bulawayo High Court said courts were “really concerned about an upsurge in rape cases and in most cases young girls are the victims, given their vulnerability.”

The judge urged parents and guardians to protect their offspring by ensuring that young girls are not left in the custody of men, apparently because some close relatives are known for their wanton bestiality.

Now, if young girls are raised with a feeling instilled in them to distrust their male relatives, what description fits that kind of society?

A bizarre picture is painted – and this has occurred many, many times in the past — when even biological fathers have had carnal knowledge of their own daughters or other blood relatives.

In the wake of Justice Bere’s decrying the upsurge in rape cases, particularly of young, defenceless girls, would it be wrong for this pen, or for anyone else for that matter, to surmise that the devil incarnate is on the rampage destroying vulnerable victims of bestial men in the absence of any stockades for the rapists so that the lives of young girls may flourish without any hindrances?

When in the past cases of rape came to the fore in public debates, radical suggestions, such as castrating the beasts and other, radical preventive measures came up as possible solutions.

But lo and behold nothing seems to have instilled the fear of the law and of God in wayward men whose violation of young girls should be upgraded to crime against humanity with commensurate sanctions being applied.

The brazen violations of innocent girls also poses a big threat to Christian values, as the bestial men do not care a damn about the chastity with which Christian girls, in particular, would wish to celebrate the day of their marriage.

Or, are the wishes and hopes of proud young Zimbabwean men marrying virgins and paying lobola for their spouses with eyes shut dashed forever with bestial men on the loose?

Perhaps the Church, as the metaphor for the hand of God, should weigh in heavily to reverse the bromide of rape cases.

But is Church not people? A countrywide crusade would thus appear necessary to restore women’s dignity as well as a good image of the country.

So the gospel about good morality and human dignity should really start in the family with any rebels facing not only ostracism but also the strong arm of the law with an indefinite life in prison as punishment for any and all rapists.

That way young women will navigate their lives with heads raised and without looking over their shoulders at possible predators stalking them and brandishing their manhood in their hands.

Similarly, the law must say, and be seen to do what it says, that time is up for anyone indulging or abating corruption regardless of their status.

The time for empty semantics in fighting rape and corruption cases, and against factionalism and tribalism as well as in giving the Zimbabwean girl child a bigger stake in the affairs of state, is long overdue.

This suggests that the values of the revolution as seen in transforming the mindset of colonial transformation by instilling among the people of this country an impetus in the desire for freedom and self-determination must be reincarnated to bring about moral decency and pride in our nation.

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