Sudan War: A Woman’s Story of Surviving Attempted Rape
By Ruqayya Al-Zaki
Amid her tears, the woman in her thirties, (M.M.A.), recounted the story of her survival from an attempted rape. Before she could finish her tale, she suddenly fell silent. Then, with a voice tinged with hysteria, she repeated, "Stop the war, stop the war, give us back our lives, take away the weapons, stop the fighting, stop the death."
After a few moments, she resumed her story, saying, "I fled the inferno of fighting in the capital, Khartoum, embarking on a harsh journey of displacement. My first stop was Omdurman, which marked the beginning of a long road of suffering."
Speaking in pain and sometimes breaking into sobs, she said, "I left Omdurman and eventually settled in North Kordofan State, specifically in the Rahad area. But the specter of war and the smell of death followed us wherever we went."
She continued, "I stayed with my relatives, living with my mothers sister, her daughter, and my own little daughter, who is only three years old. My mother-in-law later joined us, and we settled in a small house in the city of Rahad."
The city had been plunged into darkness for months due to power outages caused by the war, forcing everyone to go to bed early.
She went on, "One evening, as we slept, we sensed unusual movements and woke up to the sounds of an armed group—many of them—outside our home. Then, events escalated, weaving the threads of an unforgettable day."
She paused briefly, tears streaming down her face, before continuing, "They were armed with a variety of weapons, including knives. From their appearances and uniforms, it was evident they were members of the Rapid Support Forces. They woke us up and demanded money and gold, saying they wanted everything we owned. When we denied having anything, they insisted, claiming they knew we were hiding money and gold."
Their voices grew louder with threats as they brandished their weapons, saying, "Pay up, or you will die."
She added, "We gave them our phones, money, and gold, but something far more terrifying happened next."
The woman trembled as she recounted what happened to her and her teenage relative. She narrated how one of the armed men approached her and demanded she go with him into one of the rooms. Another approached her relative, asking her to follow him into another room, under the pretext that they wanted them to retrieve hidden money and valuables.
With a voice laden with fear etched in her memory, she said, "When one of them repeated his demand for me to go with him to the room, I told him that there was no money or gold left and that we had handed over everything."
She continued, "After this exchange, they started hitting us and told the homeowner, We will take the girls with us. At that point, she defiantly replied, I will not let you take my daughters. Taking all we own should be enough for you."
She paused again before saying, "One of them pointed his weapon at me and ordered me to go with them. He tried to drag me by the hand until I fell to the ground."
"I grabbed hold of an iron bedpost with all my strength as the armed man tried to pull me away while another encouraged him, saying, Take her by force."
She explained that she did not know where she mustered the strength at that moment, but she found herself clinging fiercely to the bedpost. The armed man grew increasingly agitated, his anger boiling over as he said, "If you don’t come with me, I’ll kill you." Meanwhile, the other man was trying to drag her teenage relative away.
Taking a deep breath, she said, "Those were terrifying moments. When the armed man said he would kill me, he seemed ready to carry out his threat. He pointed his weapon at me, and I began reciting prayers, preparing myself for death."
Amid the escalating chaos and noise that engulfed the house, young men from the neighborhood arrived. As they entered, the armed men confronted them. A massacre was narrowly averted when, by the grace of God, the armed group decided to leave.
The woman said she narrowly escaped an attempted rape that could have occurred in front of her family and her young daughter. She wept bitterly as she described the ordeal, saying it reflected the grave dangers faced by Sudanese women amid the ongoing war.
She concluded, "Despite what we endured, we still dream of the end of this nightmare and returning to our normal lives." She spoke of her aspirations before the war—her desire to spread awareness and her calls for democratic transformation and civilian governance that resonates with the hopes of many.
