By: Lamin Sanyang
Binta Manneh, a girl who was allegedly raped by a paramilitary officer at the stadium during the inter schools athletics competition yesterday told the Truth Reconciliation and Reparation Commission that security officer pressed his elbow on her chest and forcefully penetrate her.
He pressed his elbow on my chest and forcefully penetrate me. After he left, I was feeling too much pain on my private part that was oozing blood profusely,” she starts to weeping.
Binta, a Grade 7 student of Brikamaba Upper Basic School in the Central River Region was a fifteen year old athlete who was raped by men in uniform at the inter schools sport competition in April, 2000.
“I saw two uniform men on my way to the shop to buy biscuits at night, one of them grabbed my hand and told me that they are servicemen. He pulled my hand to follow them in the darkness behind the stadium and unzipped his trouser but his colleague ran away,” Binta Manneh starts crying as she recollects the incident.
“He pushed me down, lifted my skirt up and tear my underwear,” she sobs.
“He pressed his elbow on my chest and forcefully penetrate me. After he left, I was feeling too much pain on my private part that was oozing blood profusely,” she starts to cry again.
Binta takes pain to narrate her story to the stage when one of her teachers took her to a police station to report the matter and she was later taken to the country’s main referral hospital RVTH where she was admitted for seven days.
The witness told the commission that soon after the incident she dropped out of school because of the gossipping at the school. She was so embarrassed and ashamed of herself because of the stigma. Later, her father married her off to someone that she did not appreciate but her elder brother broke that marriage and enrolled her to a training school in the Kombos.
She also told the commission’s Deputy Lead Counsel, Mrs. Horejah Bala Gaye that she was not aware of the arrest of any culprit regarding to the case.
She said she was called for questioning in Banjul but the person would shout on her to repeat her story over and over again.
“He said that I was lying about what happened to me,” she remarks.
The Deputy Lead Counsel told her that she shouldn’t be ashamed of what happened to her but it’s the perpetrator who should be ashamed of what he did to her. The same point was reiterated by the chairman of the commission.
It could be recall that Binta Manneh’s rape story and Ebrima Barry’s death triggered the April 10th-11th student demonstrations.
