“I tried to overpower her but she was too strong. She slapped me and I regained my senses. It was then I realized that was my wife’s grandmother.”
Chioma Igbokwe
No man in his right senses would have carnal knowledge of his mother or his mother-in-law – even if such a man is afflicted with a flaming libido or driven by a sex demon. It is a taboo in the human society, an act so ignoble and repulsive, it is unpardonable. Sadly, that was the grave sin committed by Daniel Shekari, who raped his mother, according to his confession, violently: “I beat her up and gagged her mouth so that she would not shout and wake the entire compound.” This was in December 2017.
READ ALSO: Outrage over raped-to-death minor
Four months later, the 32-year-old man broke into the room of his wife’s grandmother and attempted raping the old woman. On both occasions, he claimed to be under the influence of alcohol, and after- ter each assault, he absconded from the vicinity. The first incest, treated as a family issue, was hushed up. He wasn’t as lucky the second time as the Police declared him wanted following his in-laws’ report.
Eventually, nabbed by the long arm of the law, Shekari is presently the guest of the operatives of Inspector General of Police’s Intelligence Response Team (IRT) as he prepares to face the wrath of the law.
I was drunk
A remorseful Shekari told Saturday Sun his story.
His words: “Ever since I graduated from secondary school, I tried my best to secure a job but failed. I became a farmer cultivating yam and guinea corn. I made a little money and got married to a 13-year- old girl. After our first child, she told me that she would like to go back to school and complete her secondary school education. I agreed and sponsored her but after completing her education, she started following other men, threatening to divorce me.
“I got angry and sent her back to her parent’s house so they will caution her. I was left alone for so long. Sometime in December 2017, I attended the Moroha festival in the village. I took so much beer and got drunk.
“I got home around midnight and felt like having sex. Something moved me to my mother’s room and I assumed it was my wife’s room. My wife always refused me sex and most of the time, I had to force her before she would allow me.
“When I got to my mother’s room and tried, she refused and I decided to overpower her. I beat her up and gagged her mouth so that she would not shout and wake the entire compound. When I finished, I went to my room and dozed off.
“It was in the morning when one of the elders in the compound forcefully woke me up that I realized what happened. I came outside and saw my mother weeping and some of our kinsmen had gathered. I initially denied it, claiming it was my wife that I slept with, but when they confronted me with the fact that my wife was in her father’s house, I realized that she was the one. I immediately fell on the ground and started begging her for forgiveness. She forgave me as a Christian and the elders cautioned me. Because of shame, I moved out of my family compound. I am an active member of Holy Church Catholic, Kaura. I was scared that as the secretary of my church that I could be excommunicated.
“I relocated to Kamnaka in Kaduna town, which is the village of my wife.
“I started working as an artisan. In April 2018, I attended another party and decided to take some alcohol. Unfortunately, I got drunk again. I could not find my way back to my house again and I decided to visit my in-laws and pass the night there. Though their daughter was misbehaving, they still loved me.
“When I arrived there drunk, I could not differentiate between my wife and any other person. My intention was to sleep with my wife, whether she liked it or not. I had already pulled her panties when she started screaming for help. I tried to overpower her but she was too strong. She slapped me and I regained my senses. It was then I realized that was my wife’s grandmother. I ran away as people who heard her scream had started gathering.
“I ran to the city and monitored things from home. It was my church member who told me that policemen were looking for me, that mama (wife’s grandmother) had filed a case of rape against me. For months, nobody found me. I had contacted my family to help me beg my in-laws. Unfortunately, I was arrested by the police.”
Asked if he had committed the act for ritual purposes, Shekari, a native of Kaura, said never. “I am a child of God and had no covenant with the devil. You can go to the church and ask about me. I was under the influence of alcohol. And as a man whose wife left a long time, I needed sex. Under normal circumstance, how can I choose to have sex with an old woman? There are so many beautiful girls around in the village. I am very sorry and I beg my in-laws to withdraw the case.”
As a mother, I forgave him
Shekari’s mother, Asabe, confirmed that she was indeed raped by her son. She told the police she was fast asleep that day when she realized that someone was touching her private part. Being a widow, she was alarmed, because it was not possible that her late husband had assumed a physical form to be with her. In an attempt to fight off her assailant, she realized that it was her son, Daniel.
“I could not believe my eyes. I fought to get him to realize that it was a taboo, but he beat me up and raped me. I cried and as soon as it was daylight, I alerted my people who caught him. They started beating him, but as a mother, I forgave and begged them not to kill him. He claimed he was drunk. I warned him severally to either go and bring back his wife or marry another. I was shocked when my in-laws came to the house and accused him of rape.”