Rapists should be executed, says mum of tot raped to death

Rapists should be executed, says mum of tot raped to death

The mother of Zainab Hussaini, a two-year-old girl who was allegedly raped to death in Tudun Wada area of Kaduna metropolis has urged government to enact a law stipulating death penalty for convicted rapists.

Safiya, 29, whose daughter was allegedly raped by an unknown person, stressed that such a penalty will serve as a deterrent to other would-be rapists. Weekly Trust gathered that the lifeless body of the toddler was found in a bush near a river close to the family residence in Tudun Wada.

Narrating how the incident took place, the mother of five said: “At about 8 am on that fateful day, I bathed the late Zainab and dressed her up, after which she escorted her father to the gate as she normally did anytime he was going to the market where he sells. In less than two minutes, she was back inside the house because her father goes to the market on his motorcycle. When she came back in, I did some make-up for her and wore her hijab.”

Safiya added that: “Shortly after, I discovered she was not with me because we are always together. We searched everywhere in the compound but didn’t see her, so we went to the Maiungwar to report her disappearance, we also decided to go and tell her grandfather so that they could announce in the mosque that she was missing. While I went to the grandparents’ house, my neighbours continued the search and in the process, they saw some school children gathered by the bush close to the river, so they were wondering what they were looking at but when they moved close, they discovered that a school boy went to defecate in the bush and saw a corpse and alerted his colleagues. When they checked the corpse, it was Zainab.”

Safiya said nobody saw the perpetrator of the devilish act, noting that no part of the deceased’s body was removed. She said, fighting back tears: “Government should enact a law that will kill whoever is caught in the act of rape.” She added that the case was reported to the police at Gidan Gayu by her husband before Zainab was buried. 

Kaduna State police spokesman, Lawan Aminu, confirmed the incident and said: “The circumstance that led to her death was not established before she was buried, so we cannot tell whether she was raped or she fell inside the river or was killed by someone. When such things happen, there is need for the deceased to be examined by a medical practitioner to ascertain the cause of her death but that was not done. Though it is possible she was raped, we cannot establish that without a medical report.”