The African Woman Blog Series: Life of a Woman – EP 15 - The Penvoice Blog

Life of a Woman series is a real-life experience of different Nigerian women who have found courage in sharing their stories on this platform, with the aim of inspiring other women into becoming better versions.

Let me officially welcome you to another inspiring weekly The African Woman Blog Series – TAWBS.

TAWBS is mainly to inspire you. Welcome!

The African Woman Blog Series: Life of a Woman – EP 15

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My name is Oluchi (Not her real name but an Ibo sister) and I am the definition of ‘I don’t look like what I have been through’. Since when I could remember being a human being, life has been rough for me. My mum and dad passed on when I was just 4yrs in a car accident when they were returning from a burial ceremony. I was their only child so the only person that I could stay with was my father’s younger sister who was a single mother of two boys and was also living in Enugu.

All I knew was that I was consistently being beaten for anything and everything. If I was eating, I would be beaten for making a sound while chewing. If I was fetching water, I would be seriously beaten for allowing a drop to spill on the floor. It got to a point whereby being viciously flogged became second nature to me. I had so many marks on my body by the time I was 10yrs that I lost count of them.

I would wait till everyone had finished eating before I ate the little my Aunt left in the pot. If she got some sort of disappointment either at her place or business or any other place, she would come home and beat me. She would say I had used my witchcraft to chase good things away from her.

The African Woman Blog Series: Life of a Woman – EP 15

I knew my Aunt wasn’t a sadist as I saw the way she was with her own kids. She pampered them with love and care while the beast in her would come out when it came to me. With the way she was to me, her kids also adopted the same way. Her first child Chike (Not real name) is 3 years older than me while Jude (not real name) the second, is the same age as me. No one knew I was related to them and I was forbidden to tell anyone. People thought I was just a house girl who had no one.

As I was receiving beatings from my Aunt, the same way I was getting beaten by my cousins, especially Chike. He had once snuck to the corner i was sleeping to want to play with my private part and I had hit his hands, since then I became his enemy when I was 11yrs. Since then, the only time I had peace was when both boys went to school and my Aunt had sent me home from her shop to wash clothes. Since my Aunt never sent me to school, I would seize an opportunity to quickly have my bath and sleep a little.

Everything I was going through was just normal to me as that was all I knew and understood. But the day my real trouble started was when I was 15yrs and my Aunt had gone to spend the night at her friend’s place whose daughter was getting married. So I was at home with Chike and Jude. Chike snuck up to me at night and tried to force himself on me. He beat me like no other so I could become weak in order to easily have his way.

The African Woman Blog Series: Life of a Woman – EP 15

The more he beat me, the more I fought him. One of the shoes I threw at him hit under his eye and he started bleeding. He got so mad that he started dragging me out of the house. Jude had joined him at the time and they had successfully dragged me out of the house and locked the door. It was raining heavily outside hence the reason some neighbours didn’t hear me scream. I had not much cloth on me as the long gown I wore had become short and torn. I sat at the corner of our gate in the rain crying. It was around 1am at night. I was scared and cold.

My tears got lost in the rain. I had been there for about an hour or so when a car had dropped Uncle Gozie (Not real name) off around the house. He was a single uncle that everyone knew in the neighbourhood, and lived just the next building to ours. He had been kind to me by giving me some money to buy food once or twice; and was surprised as to why I was outside in the rain. I told him I was locked out. He was upset but said there was nothing neither of us could do judging the fact that it was pouring heavily.

The African Woman Blog Series: Life of a Woman – EP 15

He invited me to come with him to his house and stayed the night so that he would help me speak with my cousins the following morning and later talk to my Aunt when she returned. I willingly followed him. He was living in a one-bedroom self-contained. He gave me one of his shirts to change into instead of my torn wet cloth. I slept on his couch in the small sitting room while he entered his room to sleep.

It was when a big hand had covered my mouth that I jerked awake. I tried to scream but I couldn’t as a big body was already pressed on me. I opened my eyes, and although everywhere was dark as the light had been switched off but I knew it was uncle Gozie that was on top of me. He slapped and kicked me about four times and I had already lost all strength in me to fight back. Since I had nothing else under the shirt he had given me to wear, he was able to have his way with me easily. When he was done, he switched on the light and showed me a knife. He said if I ever told anyone what he had done, he would kill me and no one would know that he did it.

To be continued……

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More so, if you are in need of a professional therapist or a psychologist, please reach out and I’ll be glad to link you to one.

P.S. Their sessions with you is definitely not for free.