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Tanya: cutting through a web of lies
Tanyaradzwa Maisiri, the teenage girl at the centre of the sex-for-asylum scandal in Britain has claimed that she was raped by one man, pushed into a forced marriage with another and starved by a third. In the public interest, New Zimbabwe.com today presents the story of Giggs (name withheld), the man Tanya (as newspapers identified her) claims she was forced to marry. In his own words, he describes a teenager locked in eternal confusion:
By Giggs
PART IV CONTINUED FROM YESTERDAY
THE account that The Observer published on Tanya's claims that she was forced to marry me in some Taliban-style marriage process reads like stuff from a Hollywood movie script. It's a total fabrication.
My family, in as much as I wanted to marry Tanya, were totally against the idea because of her age, image and reputation in my area. I tried to convince them, and on two separate occasions that I arranged for them to meet Tanya ‘s family, they did not turn up to fulfil their obligations.
On the third occasion that they agreed to meet at my place, they made it clear that they were not prepared to bless my marriage to Tanya. I was gutted with my family‘s open humiliation of Tanya.
At one point, I even decided to go behind my family‘s back so I sent my good cousin Fauz to make arrangements with Tanya ‘s auntie and uncle in Kwekwe. But Tanya‘s relatives were against the idea of a marriage arrangement that did not include my family. So this never worked out at all.
Tanya was never married in Zimbabwe, this is total fabrication and the hallucinations of an unbalanced individual. It thus follows that there was never a forced marriage in Zimbabwe.
For the avoidance
of doubt, Tanya was married in Birmingham at the Register‘s office
and the records are there for The Observer to see and examine.
Her claims that she was beaten up, and forced into a marriage by his
uncles are totally mischievous. And if forced marriages now occur in
England, then I think there is a scandal for The Observer to
investigate.
It is further alleged that Tanya had scars from the beating to force her to accept the marriage, this again is totally unfounded. Firstly, when Tanya arrived in England, she had no visible scars the paper so alleges. If she has scars now, God knows where she got those scars from.
Secondly, Tanya
came to England voluntarily and willingly. Like any other bubbly Zimbabwean,
she looked forward to coming to England to start a new exciting life
and no one coerced her. The records are there once again should anyone
wish to examine them. I was never involved in any forced marriage, it's
just not my style. I am totally against the idea and I see no moral
reason to do it when Zimbabwe is blessed with so many beautiful and
willing women.
One basic human need is food, and even prisoners of war are entitled
to a healthy meal. Surely only an evil person would deny his own wife
food and money for maintenance. I am not saying that I am an angle neither
am I claiming to be a perfect man. I have made many mistakes in my life,
and I will continue to do so, as everyone learns from their experience.
But one mistake I will never make no matter the crime of the person is to starve a fellow human being, moreso my own wife. Surely if ever I did what was mentioned in The Observer I have no right to be part of any society and I should be punished by a court of law. I cared for Tanya, and for The Observer to say that she was left without food is pushing the borders of freedom of expression too wide.
It is a lack of respect and total abuse of the freedom of expression and it must be condemned. I find it hard that any normal human being would work hard and long shifts to bring his wife over to England, only to deny her food to eat. Please!
People in any relationship have problems but such drastic measures can only be done by a person who has no human feelings, and has no fear of the law. Such a person does not deserve a place in any society as he is a danger to the very values of humanity that we preach and try to defend everyday.
I am not the monster The Observer and Tanya have told the world that I am. Tanya would surely have starved to death if The Observer‘s account is anything to be believed, as she stayed with me for half a year. The Observer conveniently decided to put it down as one month, and it is clear that their intention is to portray me as sadistic man of questionable character and bad habits.
We might not have
had money to buy caviar and champagne, but certainly we had enough money
to by Tesco value for survival!
The Observer further claims that I withdrew Tanya‘s application
for British Citizenship after she “fled”. There is a difference
between withdrawing an application and the application reaching its
logical conclusion.
Withdrawing is a
drastic measure in which you put stop to a process in motion. This was
never the case with Tanya‘s application which went on for seven
months after she had left home. The Home Office can be a witness in
this issue, as they dealt with Tanya‘s issue according to the
normal procedures of every application. At no time did I call them to
withdraw or stop the application. I did all in my powers for Tanya to
get citizenship, even when I knew that Tanya was staying with another
man.
Sometime in June 2004, I had discovered a phone number of a gentleman
I will call Dindingwe which Tanya had in her bag. It is every man‘s
worst fear to imagine that his woman is going out with another man.
I asked Tanya the source of the number, and the honest answer she gave
to me was that perhaps someone had placed the number into her handbag
without her noticing. Like before, I believed her explanations with
some reservations. It had happened that some few days before, Dindingwe
had dropped Tanya at my house after Tanya had gone for a job interview.
On that day, he called me outside to find out how I was doing. I had
no reason to suspect anything as he was married and was a friend of
my good friend in Birmingham.
It was after this that we started having problems, arguing and at one
time we fought which she reported to the police. We then tried to sort
things out, but it became clear that I was fighting a losing battle.
One day after an argument she just told me she needed some space for
a day, so she suggested she wanted to go to a friend‘s place.
I had no problem with it as I thought this would be the best solution
to our problems.
That was the last
time I was ever to saw Tanya in my house. A few weeks later she came
home while I was at work and climbed through the window to take her
belongings. I was only told by some next door neighbours of the account.
I tried to convince her to come home which never happened.
At the same time, she continued to come to my work place for financial
support. Whenever I asked her where she was staying, she told me that
she was staying at a Refugee centre. Meanwhile her application for indefinite
leave was being processed, and I did not have any problem with it. It
was clear that she was not coming back, and the fear became clear when
it was rumoured that she was now staying with Dindingwe.
In hind sight I now suspect that this gentleman was already seeing Tanya when he dropped her at my place. I called him to ask whether the allegations were true, he just shrugged them off in typical style. I never had any problem with this gentleman, even when Tanya confirmed that she was staying with him. I just wished them all the best and moved on with my life, though obviously heart broken.
I found it hard
that a fellow Zimbabwean would put another through such troubles considering
what I had gone through with Tanya. I had lost so much, given so much
and felt betrayed when she moved in with this man. But one thing I have
to make clear is that her application was never, I repeat never, withdrawn.
I have the documents to prove it. I continued going to the lawyers pressing
for the case, when I knew that Tanya was staying with Dindingwe.
The Observer failed to realise that there are matters that
can be proved that one does not need to lie about. Such evidence is
embarrassing. Should The Observer wish to examine it, they
will be left with egg all over their faces. It is claimed that Tanya
was rejected, by who and when? Tanya was never rejected, the opposite
is true. I waited in vain thinking Tanya would come back. I did all
I could do to win her back, but it seems she had made up her mind. Tanya
was never desperate since she had friends and cousins around who could
assist her. And at no time did Tanya ever ask for help from any of her
relatives, all of whom I know very well.
To conclude their seemingly unbelievable allegations, The Observer
went on to say that when Tanya left my place she went on to stay with
my unnamed friend. I only have one friend in Birmingham who I have asked
to confirm whether this is true. The so-called friend, it was claimed,
abused and demanded sex for keeping her. I do not want to go into much
detail of this allegation because it has LIES written all over it.
When Tanya left
me as I have already mentioned above, she went and stayed with someone’s
husband. The man in question, Dindingwe, left his wife to set up a love
nest with Tanya and to this day they are still staying together. So
to say that she was violently treated by my unnamed friend, is to paint
a picture of a woman under torture which never was the case. Tanya was
in control of things around her and knew of when and how to get where
she wanted to be. Things might not have worked out the way she planned
them to be, but to accuse others of such allegations is a serious breach
of fair comment.
A few days before the The Observer ran with its story, Tanya
called me to seek assistance in her asylum application. She asked if
I could forward to her some documentation, which I was willing to do.
I made it clear in our communications that though I was willing to assist,
I was uncomfortable about the whole arrangement.
It has to be remembered that this call came a year and half after she had left. During that time I had never at all spoken to her, so I was a bit surprised by the call. She then offered to take me to lunch and volunteered to pay, which was very unusual. I told her that Friday would be the best day for me, and we were to go somewhere discrete as I was not comfortable with people seeing me with her after the torturous break up.
However, the next
day I developed cold feet over the whole lunch business, and excused
myself. I regretted the failure to go ahead with the lunch though, since
I wanted to see Tanya after such a long time. I wanted some disclosure
as to why after so much sacrifice, so much pain, it had to end in such
a mercy way. But when someone told me to buy The Observer on
Sunday, it dawned on me that my decision not to meet up with her was
probably the best omission that I ever made. In hind sight, I now believe
I had been set up.
I have already experienced the worst nightmares before in my life and
I am prepared for anything, even death itself. There seems to be a great
force behind the Tanya story. These forces appear to have something
to gain from the teenager‘s tribulations. Surely if their purpose
was to expose randy James Dawute, while protecting Tanya, they would
have withheld her picture and given her a different name.
I find it staggering that The Observer genuinely believes that by withholding her surname, but publishing her picture in colour, they thought that they were protecting her. When two bulls fight, it the grass that suffers. The team behind Tanya have realised their mistakes and the teenager is now suffering for their unfortunate mistakes. Any sensible professional would have realised what was at stake when publishing a story involving a teenager.
This is unacceptable
because it was clear that the public would want to find out more about
this teenager, more so when her account involved some individuals who
were not accorded the chance to defend themselves against such shocking
allegations. No court will defend her cry for privacy, when she was
the first one to publish defamatory allegations.
I feel pity for Tanya whose intentions were to highlight the abuse asylum
seekers face at the Home Office. It was a genuine sense of duty, which
has been marred by bad advice, and irresponsible journalism. Tanya in
all this drama is being used by some elements whose objective is unclear.
Let me make it clear, I am not fighting against Tanya but the people
behind her who want to use a teenager for their greater political plans.
Tanya is an individual who has always had high hopes to make it either
in the film industry, music or modeling. I just hope her great vision
and confidence is not destroyed by people whose intentions are far from
protecting her.
Zimbabweans are
a hardworking and dedicated bunch, and they would do well with less
of the Makosi and Tanya types. Tanya has told lies, and protection can
never be accorded to those who violate others’ rights.
It is sad that The Observer has missed the opportunity to cover
such a story of great national importance in a responsible and sincere
manner. I am with Tanya is her quest for justice against the Home Office,
but I condemn totally the methods employed by The Observer,
and Tanya's wilful participation.
Finally, I wish Tanya all the best in her fight for justice, and I hope she understands that all I had to do was to defend my territory.
This has been a
truthful account of the events as they happened, and how I remember
them.
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