Dark world: Shocking tale of woman raped by demons

Last Monday this magazine published a strange story of a man from Bungoma County whose manhood has allegedly been bewitched by his ex-wife. The man claimed the enchantment is so strong that his weapon of ‘mass procreation’ does not rise to the occasion — no matter how tantalising the ‘warm up’ is — when he attempts to bed any other woman.

But, strangely, it becomes operational when his estranged wife visits, which is once in a while when she is in the mood!

This got us wondering, do witchcraft, demons or even evil spirits exist? And if they don’t, why do religious individuals and pastors sort of endorse this perception by cursing what they claim to be the devil or exorcising demons out of possessed individuals? “Riswa! Shetani ashindwe!” They always yell fervently, amid punchy sermons.

Look, when Jesus cast demons into pigs, thousands of years ago, to free a certain man’s troubled spirit, the matter should have gone to hell for once and for all. But, seemingly, demons and evil spirits are back and with a vengeance, or so it seems.

If reports doing rounds can be believed, they have been let loose in some places, especially at the Kenyan Coast and, weird as it sounds, they are allegedly impregnating people’s wives, deflowering virgins, indulging in sodomy and breaking up families.

Take, for instance, Eshirandu area, a rural outpost in Butere Constituency in Kakamega County, which is famous for all sorts of demonic tales. Stories have been told of how some mysterious fires always burn houses in the area, people getting slapped by invisible figures in darkness and so on.

Some of these are not new happenings. Stories of demons or djinnis as they are popularly known around the Coastal belt have always been treated with a pinch of salt by contemptuous Kenyans who are yet to experience them.

At the Coast, the demons are feared and revered at the same time. Stories have been told of men at the Coast who claim to have witnessed demons molesting their wives.

Although one cannot actually see the demonic spirit, it’s alleged they can see their wife’s clothes being ripped off and watch her sweating and screaming in pain.

According to Kassim Kai, a resident of Chonyi at the Coast, demons with a penchant for rape are heartbroken individuals whose love was scorned at a particular moment in time.

“So heartbroken were they that they committed suicide mostly by jumping into the lake or ocean. Their angry, jilted spirits normally show up later to revenge on the victims or their spouses,” he says.

In his classic African novel, The Concubine, Elechi Amadi waxes lyrical about the bewitchingly charming and beautiful Ihuoma. Every man desires her, but none will own her because she is a spirit and the wife of a water spirit king.

Initially, people used to poke fun at Coast residents, terming their experiences with spirits and demons as hoaxes. But until recently when some of this demonic stuff began happening outside the Coast, no one is ridiculing them anymore.

Tale of woman raped by demons

Take, for instance, what happened to Doris Achieng’ a few years back. She, in her own words, has been to hell and back courtesy of demonic attacks.

It all began with what she describes as rape by demons. “It started one morning when I was Form Three.

Immediately I opened the door, I felt a strong wind blow into the house and suddenly felt heavy on the back as if someone was sitting on me,” she says.

So terrified was the young woman that she could not scream, fearing dire consequences. But when she loudly invoked God’s name, the sensation disappeared into thin air.

“I never spoke about it or told anyone, thinking it was just a bad dream,” she says. But the night that followed was scarier. This time the ‘devil’ came with a companion and with their naked and cold bodies, they sandwiched and blindfolded her eyes.

“They warned me against screaming or raising any alarms and threatened to kill me if I did. I kept struggling and fighting to free myself with no success.

“When I could not take it anymore, I decide to scream. And immediately my mother responded to my distress call. She lit the lamp and prayed with me. That night I slept soundly till morning,” she remembers.

On occasions, she says she would have some nasty dreams. She, for instance, once dreamed that she was dead and could hear her family and relatives scream and mourn her, only to wake up and realise it was a bad dream.

It took the intervention of their pastor who through an elaborate exorcising exercise cast the demons out of the home and it has since never happened.

Man slapped by djinns

Her story is one that resonates with Athman Ahmed, 36, of Majengo, Mombasa.

“We were in bed with my wife when the ‘visitors’ came. When they tried to molest her, I resisted but one slapped me so hard that I fell on the floor, paralysed,” says Athman.

You might be surprised to learn that demons and exorcism — the driving out of Satan and evil spirits from a possessed person, place or thing — thrive not just in Africa, but in the so-called dveloped world as well.

Tales of mzungus in the west experiencing ghosts or practicing exorcism abound.

Fact that many pastors both local and abroad still practice exorcism to drive away evil spirits says it all. Most use holy water, incantations, various prayers, incense, relics and Christian symbols such as the cross.

Opinion divided over existence of dark forces

However, some medical experts argue that individuals who claim to be possessed are always unwell with mental illness such as hallucinations, but instead blame it on demons. Other individuals like Johnston Ndegwa, a primary school teacher in Nyeri, dismisses talk of demons as hot air. “What you cannot see with your naked eyes cannot exist. These people (exorcists) are just crooks who make money from people with problems,” he says.

But Pastor Robert Burale, the founder of Naked Truth Movement, which is based in Nairobi, believes demons exist.

“I am doubtful of djinns, but demons do exist. If they were none existence, then pastors would not be yelling at the top of their lungs, cursing the devil or casting demons out of possessed individuals,” he says.

The pastor, who doubles up as a motivational speaker and image consultant, reiterates his argument, saying: “Demons normally get into individuals and manifest themselves in whatever form they want. Others manifest themselves as wild anger, insatiable lust or even murderous intent.”

Burale says, unlike God, who is omnipresent, demons could be powerful only to some extent and only dwell in individuals with spiritual weakness and lack faith.

“When demons find such individuals, they thrive by pushing them into all sorts of devilish activities such as masturbation or prostitution. But when such demented or disturbed individuals are presented before annointed men of God whom through the power of the holy spirit manifests itself, they get healed and stop the devilish obsessions,” he says.

He goes on to give an example of a family he personally knows where almost everyone has gone through divorce. “I know of a family where close to five members are divorced. You can’t rule out demons in such a situation,” he says. He concludes saying demonic powers take various forms, like through witchcraft, but the moment they clash with God’s mighty power, they always get destroyed.