When A Father Commits Incest

By ABIBATU LAWANU

There have been several media reports on fathers who abused their daughter. What could come over a man that would make him sleep with his own daughter? A man shouldn’t even have such thoughts towards his daughter.

Queen a 16-year-old girl whose parents are separated is currently being accommodated at a Rehabilitation centre. After being raped severally by her father, she ran away from home and sought solace at the police station. Where she opened a can of worms. At first the police did not believe her story but her pathetic state and the stream of tears rolling down her cheeks earned her the pity of the D.P.O. who took up the case and ordered for his arrest.

Narrating her ordeal Queen said, “my first recollection of abuse was at the age of six. It continued until I ran away from home. I grew up with a violent father who wanted to control the life of his wife. He never showed love or affection for his family. My mother became a slave. A sex slave. He did everything possible to punish her. Even when it came to sex, he punished her. I sometimes spyed on them. Without caring that I was watching my dad would demand for sex at any time of the day and would take what he wanted whether my mother was willing or unwilling. My mother was always screaming when they were having sex. This exposed me to sex very early in life. Even at that age I knew that sex was not fun if you are forced to do it. This made me to detest my father with every fibre of my being.

My mother took orders from my dad and executed them promptly.

On top of that, he physically abused her. To say she lived in the house like a slave is putting it mildly. After my mother suffered two miscarriages as a result of the constant beatings she received from my dad, she packed her things and ran away from home before my father returned back from work leaving me behind.
“That was the beginning of my night mare; I later discovered that they weren’t even properly married. My father impregnated her while she was still in secondary school. She ran away from home and moved in with my dad. I endured sexual abuse and lived with an alcoholic exhibitionist.

“Every day of my life at home was a challenge to stay away from my father. His exhibitionism became a cat-and-mouse game. Each morning began the same way. Could I awaken before my dad and close the door to my bedroom so that I didn’t have to see my father’s nakedness? Many times I would wait until I heard him driving out until I would get up. One morning I heard the familiar sound of his car and decided it was safe to get up. How surprised I was to see my dad standing in the corridor, waiting to get a glimpse of me.

“Along with the ongoing cat-and mouse game of trying to stay away from my father, I had to endure the awful verbal and physical abuses of an alcoholic. The pattern was the same each night. My dad would stop on the way home for several drinks and then have more when he got home. At dinner Dad would begin his hostilities toward me. He enjoyed talking me into a corner and then yelling at me. I don’t ever remember a meal where I was relaxed and could eat in peace. One night, I was determined not to upset my father. I would just remain silent during the meal. How vividly I recall prodding and prying to get me to talk, but I kept silent. But my plan didn’t work. Even though I said little, my father still badgered me and ended up raping me. I cried and cried that night. I was tired of the incessant rape, and then decided to seek help from the police”.