Martin Nkematabong
3 October 2008
Miss E. sustained wounds on her forehead, chest and knees after a long duel.
A middle-aged woman, Miss E. (other names withheld), last weekend suffered severe mutilations from a raged concubine, Paddy, as punishment for testing HIV-sero poisitive. Miss E. was harked on the forehead, chest and knees after an estimated three hour confrontation in their remote moated hut at the Cow Street neighbourhood in Bamenda. The result of her diagnosis was announced by Paddy's relative who serves as a relay community nurse in one of the hospitals in the city.
According to close sources that preferred anonymity, E. and Paddy have cohabited, with endless marital promises, for the past four years. Paddy is reportedly a professional pimp at the Mobil-Nkwen sex fair, while his mistress roasts and sells fresh corn at Ghana Street from dawn to dusk. Neighbours say the "couple" had rarely welcome peace in their home.
"E. and Paddy often terrify the neighbourhood with violence, especially at night," our source said. "E. is often beaten either because she fails to provide food, resents Paddy's nocturnal activities with sex workers or refuses sex. She often sheds blood; it's a routine," our source noted.
The last week's gruesome incident was, however, not triggered by hunger or lechery. Miss E., seven months pregnant, was battered for testing sero-positive, a test she opted in as a pre-requisite for antenatal consultation. It was not her first time, however, opting for free HIV counselling and testing.
"Paddy has always used E. as an HIV litmus paper," one of E.'s relative said. "E. has twice tested sero negative, and each time her diagnosis are announced Paddy organizes an elaborate party for his friends, with the conception that he is consequently free of HIV/AIDS. Paddy has never gone for the test. He has never been sure of his sero-statue. Yet, he earns a living by brokering for sex hawkers," E.'s relative noted with consternation.
Miss E.'s case is just one out of hundreds of violent incidents perpetrated against HIV-positive women in many communities of the North West province, which still tops the national prevalence rate. Reports from local AIDS Control Committees and other sources hold that violence unleashed on HIV-infected women in the province is a human rights abuse of epidemic proportion, especially as many North West cultures still assign lesser values to women, associating them with child bearing and mother-care. Statistics have also indicated that most North West women are still illiterate, poor and highly depend on men for food, shelter, employment and healthcare. Many still do not have the right to insist on condom use or opt out of sex.
At press time, Miss E. was too faint to talk, while onlookers and sympathisers sort ways by which the victim could be given emergency medical attention.
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