Tsitsi Ndabambi
Paris a transwoman who lives in the City of Kings and Queens faced a dreadful dilemma on her birthday when rapists left her for the dead.
On 23rd March on her birthday she hit the road with her friends heading for a local club (which is known to be non-discriminatory). They intended to have a good time, little did they know that all the swag that they had carefully donned themselves with was going to end up in a pool of blood.
Just after half an hour of partying two men who had walked in earlier and sat a table away from them joined them and later invited them to Nkulumane in the western part of the city for more fun since the night was young.
One of the men gave Paris a glass of gin diluted with cranberry juice, just after a few sips, she started feeling more light headed and weaker than normal. They were speeding their double cab. Just as they were approaching the highway close to the cemetery they pushed her very tall friend Brenda out of the car leaving the confused Paris there.
“I was shocked to hear that Paris was raped, she called me the following day telling me the dreadful news. When I was pushed from the car I went home thinking that maybe it was part of the plan to drop me. I called Paris but her cellphone was off,” said Brenda.
They then took her into the cemetery where they pulled out Paris and punched her on her head and she passed out. When she came to, that is when she realized that she had drunk a drug spiked drink, the cold breeze woke her up.
She woke up to find out that she was naked and sexually abused. The four graveyard workers who found her lying in a pool of blood assisted her. They quietly gave her an old work suit and gave her transport money.
Upon getting home she wept in a bathtub where the water was next to scarlet red with blood. The special day of Paris’s life will be hard to erase since every year 23 March is her birthday.
This is one of the whispered stories that is never addressed or reported to the authorities all because Paris identifies as a trans-person or what is famously known as “ngochani” in the mother tongue. Not all trans identifying people are gay as the society assumes.
Many people like Paris silently suffer from stigma and discrimination which then leads to mostly suicide. From that day on Paris is always advising others not to entertain strangers if they are trans persons.
Listen to Paris narrate her story on the link below
www.anchorfm/purple-royal
