Eighty-three-year-old Thomas, a 2007/08 post-election violence victim, has no more passion to live. The tragic events of eight years ago, when he was viciously attacked and tortured by a rowdy mob of youth that also gang-raped his two daughters left him emotionally drained.
His daughters have since succumbed to multiple health complications as a result of the bestiality. Thomas, who vividly recalls the attack that left him the sole care-giver of his grandchildren is one of the 163 PEV victims who recounted their tales in Human Rights Watch report; “I Sit and Wait to Die”.
The report, released yesterday, highlights the unending suffering and stigamitisation of rape victims, who were infected with HIV during the attacks, in a society that has turned its back on them and moved on.
It also captured heart-wrenching tales of how survivors, who could not cope with their pain and rejection by friends and relatives, turned suicidal with others terminating their lives.
Female rape victims are the major casualties of the PEV aftermath, with a majority chased out of their homes. Victims wonder why the government has ignored their plight and not even provided them with the much-needed psycho-social support services.
The report comes days after the Appeal Chamber of the International Criminal Court (ICC) barred use of recanted evidence in the case against Deputy President William Ruto and his co-accused Joshua Sang.
ICC’s Appellate bench’s decision means previously recorded witness statements cannot be used by prosecutors in the duo’s case, critical in helping them win the eight-year case. In March last year, President Uhuru Kenyatta announced a Sh10 billion fund to provide “restorative justice” for victims.
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