The Case of the Severed Penis

I was on a flight from Entebbe to Nairobi on June 30 when I read The New Vision's front page story titled "Mother cuts off defiler's penis."By the time I finished the story, my spirits were up and I have been in a great mood ever since.

According to the article, Angelina Kyomugisha was weeding her banana farm in Mbarara when she heard her 10-year old daughter cry out. She went over to have a look, only to find 40-year-old Geoffrey Mugarura defiling her little girl. Kyomugisha did what every mother ought to do in such situation - she pounced on Mugarura and cut off his penis. Then she flung it into the bush.

Neighbours helped search for Mugarura's severed penis till they noticed a dog running off with something in its mouth. They threw a stick at the dog till it dropped what was left of his snack. At this point in the story I had to control my laughter for fear being thrown off the flight.

At hospital, a doctor confirmed that they would refashion what was left of Mugarura's penis so that he could at least urinate with it. As for any other business, the dog had taken care of that. When I got back to Accra, I called Solome Nakaweesi-Kimbugwe of Akina Mama wa Afrika in Kampala. She told me that FIDA-Uganda had sent a delegation to Kyomugisha's village and would be handling her case. The significance of this incident is that if men do not get the message that the bodies of women and girls are not as accessible and disposable as toilet paper, they will learn the hard way.

Kyomugisha probably never attended the UN's Conference on Women inBeijing, 1995. She has probably never heard of the Africa Protocol on Women's Rights or the Solemn Declaration on Gender Equality in Africa, ratified by the African Union. She might not know that Ugandan women's rights activists have been trying to get a Domestic Relations Bill passed for over 10 years now.

Kyomugisha might have known that in Uganda, defilement of children carries the death penalty, but she definitely has never heard of anyone paying such a harsh price for ruining the life of a child. But certainly, she had heard stories of the hundreds of girls raped and even killed by relatives, acquaintances and neighbours. And she might have been familiar with what Toyin Mejuini who runs Women Against Rape, Sexual Harassment and Exploitation (WARSHE) in Nigeria calls the rape and beg phenomenon.

Rape and beg refers to the many powerful delegations sent to intimidate parents, especially mothers of victims of violent sexual abuse. These delegations usually include local elders, traditional rulers, clergy, respected opinion leaders, and even senior members of the family. If the parents still insist on pursuing the matter, they face other obstacles with the legal and law enforcement system till the victims are victimised all over again.

Kyomugisha might not have known much about all the guarantees African governments committed themselves to at the conferences in Vienna,Beijing, Addis Ababa, and other places, and all the promises they made to promote and protect women's human rights and bodily integrity. But she definitely knew about rape and beg. And she was not about to be begged. She was not going to wait for the creaky wheels of justice to slowly crank into action and run out of gas. She was not about to be told how to be a good mother and member of the community, and not wash her dirty linen in public. Kyomugisha took one look at the monster standing over her daughter and decided, 'this will be the last time you do this to any girl.'

Was it right for Kyomugisha to take the law into her own hands? The politically correct answer is no, but permit us to say a resounding yes. Our colleagues at Action Aid have launched an international anti-violence campaign called 'Women Won't Wait.' Kyomugisha has definitely heeded that call. She has decided not to wait. Kyomugisha has sent out a message loud and clear which we hope will be heard way beyond the shores of Lake Victoria, 'Stop abusing and killing our children. Stop violating women. Stop the culture of impunity. Protect women and girls from violence.' Since domestic violence laws, conferences, workshops, rallies, popular theatre and protests have not managed to drive the message home effectively, perhaps the thought of the wretched Mugarura's penis in the mouth of a fleeing dog will do the trick. Enough is enough.

Feminists are not calling for the castration or emasculation of men. Our position is a lot simpler than that. If men decide to use certain parts of their anatomy as weapons of mass destruction to wage wars on the bodies of women and girls, they will be disarmed and demobilised.

To mothers or guardians of young girls, keep something sharp handy. And make sure you take time out to pat a dog over the coming days. One of their brethren in Uganda has one a great job.


Bisi Adeleye-Fayemi "is a co-founder and the Executive Director of the African Women's Development Fund. This article first appeared in the New Vision, Kampala.

good post/Story
i like the part about the dog running off with its snack

da dey part i liked...u eat crackers, u get up with crumbs. what is that? ten year old girl? da witch

you know.. i didnt knwo there was/is a name for the begging and stigmatising thing till i read this...
rape and beg

thats what happens in MOSt cases.. and if YOU the parent dont want to acept the begging, you are stigmatized.... your child or the victim is violated all over again in another form

in liberia they say, the girl already big and know man bisness na. so why all the talk...jes leave it

sad.

Men need to control their penis and they will not be like the bastard Mugarurru...Thank u for the story KR..

What a story...I wish many around here are reading.

I am just from Broad St. and it seems as if the cutting-off-penis thing was not too fine with this lady as I passed her by. I heard her saying, "...the way that thing sweet then she come go..."
I laughed away as I made no gesture of eavesdropping.

Bellah, for some of us in control of our penises, we know it is a hard thing do at time...not even to talk about unthinkable cases of big-big men raping small-small girls.
But lets face it: Vex prick ain't got no conscience.

Now that I know the feminists are hovering with sharp implements... I will buy iron brief with combination lock for my 'customers'.

McNeal wrote:

lets face it: Vex prick ain't got no conscience.

thats why its gonna be chopped

I am sorry sister CG, cuz it's gonna be in iron protection with forgotten combination key - called 'self-control'

krazzy wrote:

But she definitely knew about rape and beg. And she was not about to be begged. She was not going to wait for the creaky wheels of justice to slowly crank into action and run out of gas. She was not about to be told how to be a good mother and member of the community, and not wash her dirty linen in public. Kyomugisha took one look at the monster standing over her daughter and decided, 'this will be the last time you do this to any girl.'

While I certainly agree that it is far past the time for this scourge to be regarded as a national and international emergency, I have to step back a bit in hopes that people dont decide it is right to en masse "take the law into their own hands" so to speak. People (men and women) do many bad things and governing authorities are often slow to respond. Our goal as a society ought to be to hasten the reasoned and just response of authorities to crimes. We should not however be in the business of justifying wholesale counter-crimes because they appear to temporarily respond to our need for revenge or our sense of rustration with the pace of change. Defilers of defenseless childrens need to be brought to justice without a doubt. Similarly, there was a need for those who supported and maintained a system of political and economic exclusivity in Liberia, to be brought to justice. However, death by firing squad following the decision of a "military tribunal" was just as wrong and injurious to society. We have got to do better all around.

McNeal wrote:

What a story...I wish many around here are reading.

I am just from Broad St. and it seems as if the cutting-off-penis thing was not too fine with this lady as I passed her by. I heard her saying, "...the way that thing sweet then she come go..."
I laughed away as I made no gesture of eavesdropping.

Bellah, for some of us in control of our penises, we know it is a hard thing do at time...not even to talk about unthinkable cases of big-big men raping small-small girls.
But lets face it: Vex prick ain't got no conscience.

Now that I know the feminists are hovering with sharp implements... I will buy iron brief with combination lock for my 'customers'.

I hear u oh Mcneal...but Mugaruru sef yah. With all the plenty women he go rape that tinny babe...i'm not sorry for him

krazzy wrote:

in liberia they say, the girl already big and know man bisness na. so why all the talk...jes leave it

So KR what is the puberty age? When i was there it was 12yearsssssssss...even on my Pa farm in Flelelah those big men then used to give their daughter out when they reach 12...jes for dowry and other chopping oh.

Where do men develop this thing for little girls? I always wondered what the appeal was. Even as a little boy I didnt like little girls(I liked big girls, just so this sentence doesn't get read the wrong way).

Even with the whole rape thing, how can somebody get excited about rejection... then again I forgot rape is about power...

forget everything else I wrote up there

bellah wrote:

McNeal wrote:

What a story...I wish many around here are reading.

I am just from Broad St. and it seems as if the cutting-off-penis thing was not too fine with this lady as I passed her by. I heard her saying, "...the way that thing sweet then she come go..."
I laughed away as I made no gesture of eavesdropping.

Bellah, for some of us in control of our penises, we know it is a hard thing do at time...not even to talk about unthinkable cases of big-big men raping small-small girls.
But lets face it: Vex prick ain't got no conscience.

Now that I know the feminists are hovering with sharp implements... I will buy iron brief with combination lock for my 'customers'.

I hear u oh Mcneal...but Mugaruru sef yah. With all the plenty women he go rape that tinny babe...i'm not sorry for him

I was thinking the same thing

then I remembered the whole power thing.

Same way Americans run to South America and South Asia to mess with little girls.. power trip

It's gotta be sickness. If you have ever had a daughter or even a child, I dont think you can do IT to another one, no matter how voluptous that child may be. Even when you have a daughter, all women then, look different in your eyes and you tend to be more forgiving and caring and your treatment may even be on an even keel.

At least that is how I see it since I have my daughter now....lol

gadyu wrote:

It's gotta be sickness. If you have ever had a daughter or even a child, I dont think you can do IT to another one, no matter how voluptous that child may be. Even when you have a daughter, all women then, look different in your eyes and you tend to be more forgiving and caring and your treatment may even be on an even keel.

At least that is how I see it since I have my daughter now....lol

Where have you been BC??? Mehn tell Vicky i will be checking her place up the Labor day weekend.

Woooah...but yu geh dem not easy here oh.

That's a great story. It makes me angry to think of men doing that kinna thing. But I hope that doesn't become a trend of women cutting off pepo toto.

Itwill make pile of good, good women have blood on their hands they can't wash off...and revenge is sweet they say, but it is momentary and the after effects of that kind of action is often regrettable and long lasting.

I wish we (Men & Women) could put all our energy into getting governments to inact and aggressively enforce laws and punishments for such haneous acts.

i hear your oh....

how many cases of rape do you hear about in Islamic countries???
why? ehn when they catch you, you will know....?

now, american with all her great court and judicial system, how many times A DAY all over america are women raped..violeted? what happens? they get to go to jail... big deal... in jail, they watch tv, pump irons, browse the internet, learn trades, etc... so its not much of a punishment....

you bring plenty qwee business sometimes, these evil people will continue to thrive and enjoy what they do....

when you start doing like how the Muslim peopel do rapist and adulterers etc, then you will see the difference.

just saying, set example on one or two and see the difference

But, its people like that old lady who give rapists a good name.

After jumping thru her window and thinking he was raping a young lady, raped the 67 year old, she had the audacity to ask him when he was going back through the window, "young man, when will you be back to rape me again?"

gadyu wrote:

It's gotta be sickness. If you have ever had a daughter or even a child, I dont think you can do IT to another one, no matter how voluptous that child may be. Even when you have a daughter, all women then, look different in your eyes and you tend to be more forgiving and caring and your treatment may even be on an even keel.

At least that is how I see it since I have my daughter now....lol

So you felf different before you had your daughter?

Not different in a negative way, since I had a daughter and my mom, but having kids are a completely different thing..