Warere Beach Hotel has claimed that - Zainab Oladehinde, the woman who accused the hotel of sexual assault, refused to take her case further after reporting the matter in Zanzibar.
In a Facebook post on Sunday, the hotel management said as a ‘woman-owned’ business, they take guest safety seriously.
“We tried our best to support Oladehinde as soon as we learned of the accusations. We immediately brought her to the police and offered her support,” the hotel said.
“The case was brought before Government authorities when it occurred. The police report indicated that this was a personal case, and not negligence on the part of Warere.”
The hotel said the victim declined to take the case further.
“She was informed that the hotel would abide by damages rewarded by the court system of Zanzibar," the hotel said.
HOW IT STARTED
Zainab Oladehinde took to Twitter and narrated her harrowing experience in the hands of a rapist during her 23rd birthday holiday in Zanzibar.
Oladehinde who went to Zanzibar alone in April, 2021 said she was excited about her two-day flight and trip to Zanzibar.
“I arrived at my hotel on April 16, 2021 in the afternoon around 4pm where I had booked six-night accommodation,” she said.
When she arrived, she said she was welcomed by the staff before being taken to her room that had a pool and sea view.
“Now, this looked like heaven to me and I can remember being so excited as this was going to be my dream birthday holiday. I couldn’t do much except eat dinner as I was tired from my flight and I just wanted to sleep,” she said.
“My itinerary the next day was to spend sometime to explore the hotel whilst I settle fully into vacation mode before I’d start my tourist activities which I never got the time to do. I had breakfast, went to the pool and the beach which was very nice.”
Oladehinde who comes from Lagos said she mingled with some Russian couples who were also lodged at the hotel.
“At around 12am, a few friends and family called to wish me a happy birthday and then I went back to my room to sleep,” she said.
“Few hours into my sleep, I started to feel a strange hand touching my breast. Now, this was me sleeping naked on my bed in my hotel room with my doors locked so this was definitely a dream. I told myself and went back to sleep.”
After a few minutes, Oladehinde said she started to feel her hands stroking someone’s manhood.
He started calling me “baby” and then I became scared because the room was dark as I had switched off the lights before I went to bed. Now, I was extremely scared I asked the man “who are you?” But all he kept saying was “baby, baby".
“At this moment, I opened my eyes to confirm if It was actually a dream or I was in real danger. Low and behold, it wasn’t a dream. There was a naked man lying on my bed and touching me at 2am in my hotel room,” she said.
“He started calling me “baby” and then I became scared because the room was dark as I had switched off the lights before I went to bed. Now, I was extremely scared I asked the man “who are you?” But all he kept saying was 'baby, baby'.
It was at this moment that Oladehinde attempted to scream.
But the man quickly stuffed his hands over her mouth in an attempt to stop her from shouting.
“I became very scared as I didn’t know who this was and why this person was in my room. A lot of things were going through my head at the same time. Who is this ? Does he have a weapon ? Will I get raped and killed on my birthday in a strange land?” She said.
She begun asking herself how the man had entered her room and yet she had locked it.
“While all these was going through my head, this man tried to climb on top of me in an attempt to force himself inside of me. At this point, I became scared because he was stinking so badly and that was the only thing I could smell. I couldn’t see his face so I started touching his body so I’d get some clarity on how to identify him if I ever get out of my room alive,” she said.
I AM SICK CLAIMS
Oladehinde said she started crying and she thought of ways to distract this man.
“I started begging him not to rape me but he didn’t understand English as he kept on speaking Swahili to me. I then lied to him that I have HIV and he’d need to get a condom before sleeping with me. He didn’t understand a word I said but immediately he heard HIV, he paused for a while,” she said.
“I quickly wanted to use the opportunity to run but then he started strangling my neck. I became very scared for my life as I saw my life flash right before me in an instant.”
She continued begging him and telling him it was okay if they had intercourse using a condom.
“I saw that he reacted to the word “HIV” so I kept on saying HIV whilst crying profusely at this point. His belt fell off the bed so I got an instant feeling that this man came to my room fully clothed before removing his clothes right on my bed. He wore his shoes and came back to press my neck against the bed,” she said.
“As I struggled to not let him strangle me, he left the room and told me he’d be back with a condom."
Oladehinde said that immediately he left, she switched on the light, tried to call hotel reception but there was no connection.
“How can there be no phones in the room in a hotel that was supposedly a 4.5 star hotel in Zanzibar? I immediately locked my doors, ran to the bathroom and called my friend. I couldn’t talk well cause I was just crying but finally, I could speak and then we decided ,” she said.
“I couldn’t stay back in the room and wait for the rapist to come back. Hell! Who knows what would happen to me this time around when he comes back to my room."
She also tried to call the police but there was no help.
CRAWLED FOR HELP
It was at this point that she sent a message to the hotel’s owner that she had been speaking with weeks before her trip.
“I quickly put some clothes on and left my room barefooted so as not to make noise. On getting outside the room, I wanted to make my way to the reception but then I saw two men who happened to be security men standing outside by the pool side having a conversation,” she said.
“I wanted to go meet them to tell them I had just just been attacked by a stranger in my room. But I thought to myself "what if this was the person (s) who actually attacked me? ” Then I became extremely scared because I’d have to find a way to get to the reception without those men seeing me. “
She crawled on her knees and chest around the leaves so no one could see her.
“When I got to hotel reception, I knocked on every door but no one answered me. I was crying profusely at this point cause I thought I wouldn’t survive this night. How could it be that there was no one in all these rooms at the reception?" she posed.
Oladehinde then remembered the Russian couple she had spent some time with the day before and could go to their room to seek refuge.
“The only issue was that the security men were directly opposite their room and I may get noticed if I go there. At this point, I put my phone on silence and started crawling on my chest till I got to their room,” she said.
“I hoped their room wouldn’t be locked so in case I get noticed, I would be able to call for help before anything happens to me.”
She said their room was open which made her run inside without knocking.
“They woke up almost immediately and I told the guy 'Alex' how I was strangled and almost got raped in my room. He advised that I stay in his room till we sort out the issue by day break,” she said.
In the morning, she left Alex’s room and went back to the reception but did not find anyone there.
She called her taxi driver “Mr Suley” to come pick her.
“I waited there for over 2 hours before I was attended to by the hotel manager “Mussa”. Mussa claimed to have received a phone call around 4am by the hotels owner to go check on me in my room after my friend had called them. He said he didn’t find me in the room so he went back to bed,” she said.
“My phone battery was low at this point so I had to go back to my room to pick up my charger. On getting to my room, I checked my bag where I had kept my money and then I realised my $1,100 money was missing!“
POLICE STATION
After a while, she said Mussa called out all the security personnel that were on duty the night before.
“They all came out. I couldn’t recognise any of them but I could smell the man that was in my room that midnight,” she said.
Oladehinde said that when they got to the police station, she was asked to write her statement which she did.
“They were all speaking Swahili and were asking me questions instead of interrogating the suspects. When I decided to take a picture of the police station and the statement I had written, the police men started shouting at me and threatening me to delete the pictures I have,” she said.
She said she was taken to the hospital for check up and she was told that there was no penetration.
“I got back to the police station and the police men said they have no issue for the sexual assault since I wasn’t raped . That the only issue here was my stolen money,” she said.
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