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Фото автораНика Давыдова

The Taxi Ride from Hell

Until two months ago, Irene* was a fun-loving young woman who liked to go out clubbing during the weekends with her friends. This was until she boarded a taxi that left her scarred in ways that have changed her life forever.

She went from a confident, fun-loving 26-year-old woman to someone who cannot stand the sight of men and cannot be left in the house alone as she is afraid of even her own shadow.

Towards the end of July, Irene decided to go to a popular restaurant on one of the busiest city streets street with a couple of friends.

She was to link up with her sister later on as they had not been spending much time together. “My sister and I have always been close, my mother says we amaze her; when we are together we cannot stop fighting but when we are apart, we cannot stop missing each other,” she said.

Irene was supposed to meet her sister at 9pm but she was having so much fun and she figured that since her sister was not calling to tell her to hurry up, she must also have been having fun.

That is how Irene ended up being two hours late for the date with her sister and since it was raining, she decided to take a taxi.

She did not call her usual cab guy as the club she was going to is also in the city centre and she could have actually walked had it not been so late and raining.

“I was going to a club at the other end of town on Moi Avenue so I did not see the need to call my cab guy as he is located at Westlands,” she said.

Right outside the club where she had been having fun with her friends, she saw a car with a taxi sign on top and the yellow lines on the sides.

She ran to the taxi, as it was raining and she did not want to get her hair messed up because she still had a long night ahead.

When the driver saw herm he opened the door, she got in, negotiated the fare and upon agreement, they took off. However, he made an unexpected turn along Moi Avenue and before she knew it, the man was driving towards Ngara.

“He was driving like a crazy man and the fact that it was a late night and a weekend, at that, meant that there was no traffic jam, “she explains.

Irene tried to get the driver to stop the car explaining that he was going in the wrong direction but he would have none of it. She then tried calling her sister on her cellphone.

“But the music in the club she was in was loud so she could not hear what I was saying, she thought I was asking her where she was seated,” she says. She then sent her a text message to explain what was happening but that went unanswered.

The man drove straight to a lodging in Ngara and by this time, Irene was screaming at the top of her voice for help.

“He dragged me out of the car by force and tried to book me into a room. I tried to tell the man at the reception that I did not know the man,” Irene says.

The driver just explained to the receptionist that Irene was his girlfriend who was drunk and they were having a lovers’ tiff. “Upon hearing that, the receptionist just ignored my pleas and told us to go and solve our problems elsewhere as we were making noise for the other guests,” She says.

The man dragged her back into the taxi and told her she was going to pay for the trouble she had just caused him.

“He grabbed my phone and turned it off. I was now terrified and helpless and had no idea where he was taking me,” she said.

“He drove for a while and we ended up going towards Kamiti forest, I knew this because I had been there before for some conservation exercise,” Irene explains.

When we got to some lonely spot on Kamiti Road, the man slowed down at a bump and two men joined them, by this time the driver was telling her she could scream as loudly as she wanted because no one could hear her.

She was taken into the forest and gang raped by the three men. Irene stares into space for a long time then says, “I would rather not elaborate on this any further,” as tears start to well up in her eyes.

She skips over this dark episode and gets back to the story. “They left me in the forest without money, no mobile phone, I was just there,” she says. You can actually feel her pain as she remembers the fateful night.

Her sister Mary takes over the story. “I did not see her text message for a long time but when I realized she had taken too long, I decided to look at my phone and that’s when I saw it.

I tried to call her but of course she was not picking the phone. I thought maybe she had decided to bounce me and instead spend the evening with her friends,” Mary says.

“I could not sleep when I went back home. Irene called me at about 10am the following morning which was on a Sunday,” she said.

A good Samaritan had given her a lift and taken her to the city centre. He took her to her bus stage and gave her a mobile phone to call for help.

Mary got there in half an hour and took a very confused Irene home. “It was like she could not see me, she had this scary blank scare, as if she was no longer part of our world,” Mary said.

After a week of silence, she opened up and told Mary what had happened and she was taken to hospital. Mary could not convince her to go to the police station to report the incident and she is yet to agree to go for counselling.

“It seems as if all she wants to do is sleep and remain locked in the bedroom the whole day, she never picks any calls and I think she has lost her job because she has never been in contact with her employer since that day,” Mary says.

Mary has tried to get the details of the taxi driver by asking those located around the area where Irene entered the taxi but nobody seems to know anything about him.

‘According to the taxi drivers who usually park along that street, it is possible that a driver from a different part of town came there on a one-off knowing that the street is usually alive with revelers on the weekend.

“Not all taxi drivers are good. There are those who prey on lone women especially if they think the woman has had some drinks. People along this street know those of us who park here very well and by now, we would have know if it was one of us,” says one of the drivers we spoke to.

Central deputy OCPD Thomas Atuti says the matter has not been reported at the station.

“We have not received any reports on the matter,” he said, “Reports of insecurity involving taxis have gone down in recent months.”

For now, Irene is just trying to get back on her feet and she does not think reliving the events of that day will help her.

“I just want to forget it all,”is all she could say when asked why she did not want to report the matter.

Barbara Kimetto also had an unpleasant encounter with a taxi driver but hers did not end as badly as Irene’s.

She got into a taxi after a night out and the man took her home without any incident. “However, when I got off the taxi, unknown to me, the man followed me into the house. I only realised this when I turned to lock my door and saw him waliking in,” She says.

Scream Barbara ran into the kitchen and locked herself in, then proceeded to scream for help. “My neighbours came to my rescue and the man quickly got back into his taxi and drove off,” she says.

Atuti says that people, especially women, should be very careful when taking a taxi at night. “Try and take taxis whose drivers you know well and if there are more than two people in the car do not get in,” he says.

When there are two or more people in the car, they are probably up to no good. If a taxi driver you trust is not available, get one your friends trust.

“Call your friends and ask them for numbers of their taxi drivers, that is safer than taking a taxi with a driver you do not know,” Atuti explains

You can also ask your taxi driver to refer you to another driver. “Taxi drivers know each other and they can refer you to people they trust.”

Once you get into a taxi, let your friends and family know. Call or send a text message and inform someone that you are in a taxi and let them know when you get to your destination.

“This is a very important security measure for everyone, just call someone and let them know when to expect you so that if anything goes wrong, somebody will notice immediately and not wait until the next day like in Irene’s case, “he cautions.

He also says it is important for one to note down the number of the taxi they are taking.

“Kenyans are yet to take the issue of the number plate seriously, “he says, “We always get frustrated by people who come to report crimes at the station but they do not know the number of the car that was involved.” He says this would be much easier for catching offenders.

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