14 year old boy seeks financial assistance to treat STI after being raped by a tenant

A 14-YEAR-OLD Chinhoyi boy who contracted a sexually transmitted infection after he was abused by a tenant while his mother was away is struggling to raise $360 required for an urgent operation.

A relative told NewsDay this week that the teenager was due to be operated at Wilkins Hospital in Harare, but the family was failing to raise the required money.

She said the boy was left in the care of a tenant who happened to be a prostitute. The boy was sexually abused by the woman in August last year.

“It happened while the mother was at Parirenyatwa Hospital with her other child who had been admitted.

“The boy kept it to himself until around October when he approached the woman and told her that he had developed rash on his private parts, but she said he had nothing to worry about,” the family member said.

“In November, he then started complaining about stomach pains and was taken to hospital where it was discovered that he had a sexually transmitted disease that was now at an advanced stage as he had what appeared to be cornflower on his manhood while the medical documents state he has genital warts and dropsy.”

The perpetrator is currently appearing before the court answering to charges of sexually abusing a minor. A neighbour said so far they had raised $25 from friends, but lamented that the boy’s condition was rapidly deteriorating.

“There is a certain organisation that said it would assist, but nothing has come up so far and we fear that it may get worse if he is not attended to on time,” she said.

She said although the tenant was understood to be taking anti-retroviral therapy, the boy had so far tested HIV negative. The boy’s mother yesterday said she was still trying to get help for him as she was unemployed. The boy’s father was killed in a road accident some years back.

“I have nowhere else to get the money. Some people had promised to help, but time is moving and nothing has come through as yet,” said the boy’s mother.

The rapist tenant was set to appear at Chinhoyi Magistrates’ Court yesterday. Newsday