Grade 8, Ikageng
There was a girl called Kamo. She and I were going to the same school and she was being sexually abused by her step-father.
Kamo was a beautiful girl and she was light in complexion. She was sexually abused by her step-father but she was scared to tell her mother and teachers at school. Her step-father had threatened to kill her if she told anyone that he was raping her.
Her life was so bad that she almost committed suicide after her step-father raped her. Her mother suspected that something was wrong because she started coming home late from school, and even staying out late on weekends because she was afraid that her step-father would rape her.
When Kamo’s mom asked her why she was always coming home late, Kamo said that she was with her friends at her friend’s house. But Kamo’s mom did not believe it because she was coming home late every day. Kamo did not even want to talk to her friends about what was happening to her.
When Kamo’s mom goes to work, her step-father would rape her, he did this because he could not sleep with Kamo’s mom, Nina because she was pregnant. So he decides to rape Kamo because she is curvy and has a nice body and Kamo’s dad can’t stop looking at Kamo’s body.
Kamo is a nice girl but she is too shy and ashamed to tell anyone about this and she starts to not cope with her school work because she is always thinking about what is happening to her. She even got low marks at school.
One day Nina told Kamo that she will be going on a business trip and will return the following week. Kamo tried to tell her mother not to go on the trip because she was scared that someone might break in but her mom told her that she will be staying with her step-father.
The following morning her mom left on her business trip so Kamo also left the house to sleep at her friend’s house because she did not want to sleep with her step-father. Kamo’s step-father had started to rape Kamo since she was 12 years old, and she was 14 years old now. Kamo is scared of him becausehe showed her his gun and said that he would kill her.
On the day that she went away to her friend’s house, her step father Thabo went looking everywhere for her. He even went to the school but could not find her anywhere. He decided to call Nina and tell her that Kamo is not at home at 11pm at night. Nina said that Kamo always comes home late, and he should check for her at her friend’s house because she always goes there.
So Thabo went to her friend’s house and when he arrived there he saw her friend, Palesa and her mom, and asked them where Kamo was. Her friend said that Kamo had not been there in a while, even though Kamo was hiding from Thabo and was under the bed. Thabo heard a noise from Palesa’s room and asked what that noise was. Palesa said that it was her mom, and Thabo forced his way inside the house. Her mom came out and asked what had happened, and Palesa told her that Thabo was looking for Kamo, but that Kamo had not come to their house yet.
Palesa’s mom said that Kamo was there today, and had asked her for a place to sleep, and that she was shocked by this because Kamo stays with her mom. Palesa’s mom said that Kamo was not expressing herself well, and she could not understand her, so Kamo ran out of the house to look for her best friend, Palesa.
Thabo was shocked because Palesa had told him that Kamo had not come here and he became very angry that they had lied to him. He decided to tell them that he would strangle Palesa’s mom and kill her by the next day if they cannot find Kamo. He showed them his gun and said, ‘if you ever find her, wherever she is, tell her that she will die.’
After Thabo left, they were scared to death, because they did not know what to do anymore. They called Kamo outside and asked her what was happening and Kamo told them the whole story about what happened and when it happened and what was the cause of this behaviour today. They were shocked and scared because they are living together and there was one more child so they were scared that he might come back at night.
So Palesa’s mom told Kamo that she could stay there for the night but after school the next day, she must go because it will cause trouble with Thabo if she stays, and they don’t need that. So Kamo felt unwanted and told Palesa that her mom does not like her because she thinks that Kamo will take Palesa to that man and he will make them both his wives by sleeping with them. Kamo told Palesa that she did not like what her mom did because it made her feel unwanted.
So when Nina came back home, Kamo came back crying and decided to tell her mom everything. Nina was shocked and believed her daughter. Nina asked Thabo if he raped her daughter and he denied everything. He took out his gun and pointed it at Nina.
Kamo ran out and called her friend Palesa, but her mom refused to let Palesa come to Kamo’s house. Palesa started crying because she could not go to Kamo’s house. Palesa told Kamo that she could not come there because her mother would not let her. So Kamo asked her to call the police and ask them to come to her house.
Palesa called the police and Thabo grabbed Kamo and wanted her to undress so that he could sleep with her, but the police came and arrested Thabo. He was sentenced to 29 years in jail.