Girl jumped from moving vehicle to escape men
A 24-YEAR-OLD girl yesterday revealed how she jumped from a moving vehicle to escape from being repeatedly raped.
The girl, who cannot be named, told the Solomon Star of the incident that occurred in Auki town on the road next to the Seventh Day Adventist area on Sunday evening.
She claimed she was returning from Sea Sound Resort at Gwaunaru’u in a vehicle with two men when one of them raped her.
“I knew these two men, but was surprised one of them turned around and raped me,” the girl told the Solomon Star in the presence of Malaita Provincial Council of Women’s vice president Martha Rurai.
“The person who raped me was a senior officer working at Kilu’ufi Hospital. I did not agree to have sex with him so he threatened and forced me to do it with him,” she added.
“When we approached my house in Auki town, I kindly asked him to drop me off at the road side.
“But he refused.
“That was when I decided to open the door and jumped out. I suffered injuries on my body but that’s the only option left for me to avoid being repeatedly raped,” the emotionally-charged girl, said.
She said she was too scared to report the matter to police because the person who allegedly raped her threatens to kill her if she goes to the police.
Yesterday, Mrs Rurai visited the girl at her home and encouraged her to report the matter to police.
Mrs Rurai also took the girl to her office and offered her counseling.
She said after providing counseling and encouraging the girl, she agreed to go to the police with her complaint.
“Here’s a girl who was suffering from trauma because of the experience she had just been through,” Mrs Rurai said.
“Understandably, she’s too scared to go to the police because of the threat,” she added.
“But this is a serious case that must be brought to the attention of the police.
“I will assist the girl to take a brave stand and report it to the police,” Mrs Rurai said.
The girl was visibly shaken with minor injuries to her body when the Solomon Star spoke to her.
The incident comes at the back of a more serious incident over the weekend in north Malaita in which a nine-year-old girl died following an attempted rape incident.
A man is now in police custody in connection to the north Malaita incident.
Meanwhile, Mrs Rurai called on men to respect women and girls.
She said these two incidents demonstrated lack of respect to women by certain men.
“Men need to understand that women are not sex objects. They are humans who have the right to live and make their own decisions,” she said.
She said her organization will step up its campaign on violence against women.
By WILLIAM EKOTANI
in Auki
