LIKE a malignant cancer that slowly devours everything in its way, sodomy is becoming a serious problem in Zimbabwean society.

Although it is an ancient vice, cases of sodomy are becoming more and more common in the country if recent Press reports are anything to go by. Several suburbs in the country harbour sodomites who prowl the streets and gain notoriety for hunting innocent little boys to abuse. Furthermore, the country's prisons have become fertile breeding grounds for the abominable crime as inmates in the penitentiaries are always at risk of being sodomised.

Actually, there have been calls for condoms to be introduced in prisons to curb the spread of HIV through sodomy. Close family members have also been identified as some of the leading perpetrators of sodomy. All these scenarios prove that cases of sodomy in Zimbabwe have taken a worrying trend as reports of the crime have been on the increase in the last few months.

Questions are now being raised on whether the sodomy cases are just crime sprees or a deeper problem for society. According to the Criminal Law Codification Reform Act, Chapter 5, sodomy is defined as: " . . . any male who, with the consent of another male person, knowingly performs with that other person anal intercourse or any act involving physical contact other than anal intercourse or any act involving physical contact other than anal sexual intercourse that would be regarded by a reasonable person to be an indecent act, shall be guilty of sodomy".

Childline, an organisation that offers free assistance to children with problems, recently said children bear the brunt of sodomy cases the most.

The organisation said it has recorded an increase in children who report sodomy cases and the majority of the perpetrators are family members of the victims. "Many children are experiencing different types of abuses and sodomy is one of the sexual abuses that children are suffering," said the organisation. "Based on the reports Childline has received of sodomy of the boy child, in the majority of cases, the adult men who are perpetrating this crime are known to the young boy and more often are related to the child."

Childline said sodomy cases turn into a vicious circle because a young person who is sodomised has the tendency to repeat the experience on another person.

"Repeatedly, Childline has witnessed that if a very young boy is sodomised, he will often re-enact this same experience later on in his life, as he grew older," said the organisation. "This is especially true if there has been no counselling received to help the child cope with the traumatic experience of being sodomised. "Counselling helps the young child to learn that what happened to them is not their fault and they did nothing to cause that horrible experience.

"Counselling will help the children to learn the right ways to have sexual relations, and not to re-enact the same traumatic experience they had." Some of the sodomy cases that have been reported in the last few months have left members of the public aghast.

One of the most prominent cases was that of a 19-year-old school headboy who allegedly sodomised 10 boys with whom he shared a dormitory at Murehwa Primary School.

Investigations later revealed that the headboy, Importance Murangwana, committed the offence during a three-month period between July and September last year and indications were that there were more victims who preferred not to report the abuse.

In another incident, a 21-year-old man, Darlington Ramu from Murehwa, sodomised his 11-year-old nephew with whom he shared a bed. During Ramu's trial, prosecutor Miss Violet Chokuda called for a harsh sentence so that the court would send a warning to other perpetrators of the crime. Although police could not immediately provide statistics on the number of sodomy cases that have been committed since the start of the year, a source revealed that cases of sodomy have been on the rise in recent months.

"Although we do not have statistics, we have noted with concern the increase in the number of sodomy cases," said the police source. "In the past, sodomy cases were rare, but nowadays, hardly a week goes by without a report of a sodomy case. The cases involve all classes of people from both the rural and urban areas."

University of Zimbabwe chairman of the Department of Sociology Dr Watch Ruparanganda said studies have shown that the rise in sodomy cases can be related to modernisation. Dr Ruparanganda said research had shown that although most people committed sodomy for sexual pleasures, there were several other factors influencing the deviant behaviour. He said modernity had brought with it a tendency for people to deviate from the norm. "People have always accepted heterosexuality as the norm, but post-modernity celebrates divergence," said Dr Ruparanganda.

"People are now eager to experiment and deviate from the norm."

Dr Ruparanganda said sodomy was associated with witchcraft and some traditional healers also prescribe sodomy for ritual purposes. "Some traditional healers advise their clients to engage in sodomy as a way of treating curses or to exorcise some demonic spirits," he said. "Such beliefs are very common in occult sects. Other people commit sodomy as a way of rebelling against their own personalities. In other instances, acts of sodomy are associated with Satanism and witchcraft."

A Harare medical practitioner, Dr N. Gonah, said sodomy caused serious health complications. "Sodomy causes several health complications and the most common is that HIV spreads easily through anal sex because there is a high percentage of white blood cells around the rectum and cuts are common with anal sex," he said.

"Other health complications include anal fissures, rectal prolapse, muscle tearing and cancer." Despite all these serious health risks many people still choose to commit sodomy.

Society needs to be constantly educated on the dangers of sodomy to reduce the prevalence of this vice. 

By Special correspondent

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