Woman shares disturbing story of assaulter sneaking into her room during solo trip
What was meant to be a magical trip to celebrate her 23rd birthday turned into an incredibly traumatic experience.
Note: graphic descriptions and may not be suitable for young readers or may be triggering!
The opportunity to travel the world is a privilege we all wish we had the time, and money, to experience. Very often, one has to save up quite a bit to be able to have a really enjoyable experience.
It all adds up; accommodation, travel expenses, travel insurance, pocket money and so much more - but it's worth it.
This was also the case for Zainab, a 22-year-old woman who wanted to celebrate her 23rd birthday to her dream destination - Zanzibar.
Zainab planned out her trip to the finest detail, and even though she was apprehensive of travelling without a companion, she was still super excited.
I had my reservations about going to a foreign country as a solo female traveler but none of my thoughts would have prepared me for what I eventually witnessed and experienced in Tanzania.
In a Twitter thread that has since gone viral, with over 92 000 retweets, Zainab shares her chilling experience.
Upon arrival at the picturesque location, she checked in and decided to get an early night after an exhaustive trip.
Read more: LISTEN: Heightened safety concerns over lift platform horror stories
She planned to do her exploring the next day when she had energy.
I couldn’t do much except eat dinner as I was tired from my flight and I just wanted to sleep. 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
Day two of her trip started off very relaxed as she enjoyed breakfast with a view overlooking the beach.
She also made friends with a Russian couple who were booked at the same hotel as her.
Excitement was building up as her 23rd birthday was just hours away, and after a few phone calls from back home, she retired back to her hotel room to get some sleep before the big day.
Read more: Woman shares helpful safety tip for ladies living alone
Unfortunately, Zainab did not get much sleep, as whilst she was asleep in her room she felt something or someone touching her. At first, Zainab was convinced that she was having a dream because it would be impossible for anyone to be in her bed with her, let alone touching her.
Note: graphic descriptions and may not be suitable for young readers or may be triggering!
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 He started calling me “baby” and then I became scared cause 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” . I asked in a louder tone this time around cause I was getting angry and then he quickly stuffed his hands over my mouth in an attempt to stop me from shouting.
It was not a dream.
There was an unidentified man in Zainab's hotel room in the middle of the night... touching her without her consent.
Read more: Woman shares helpful safety tip for ladies living alone
Paralysed by her fear that this man was going to kill or rape her, Zainab told the man that she was HIV positive and it would be best for him to get protection if he planned on sexually assaulting her.
He didn’t understand a word I said but immediately he heard HIV, he paused for a while. 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
There was momentary relief for Zainab after the man left the room to get a condom.
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. Should I leave my room? I don’t know who or what is outside my hotel room either!
She eventually managed to escape from her room, hid in the bushes, and then made her way to the Russian couple she had met earlier that day.
I hoped their room wouldn’t be locked so incase I get noticed, I would be able to call for help before anything happens to me. Fortunately for me, the room was opened and I ran inside. They woke up almost immediately and I told the guy ‘Alex ‘ how I was strangled and almost got raped.
She stayed put in their room until the morning.
In the morning, Zainab went back to her room to get dressed and grabbed whatever was accessible to her at the time. When she got back into her room she discovered that her money was gone.
The story gets even more upsetting, as attempts to get help from the hotel management were in vain and her experience at the police station in Zanzibar was a nightmare, to say the least.
I stood my ground and said I wouldn’t delete any picture. The police chief at the Nungwi police station then said he wouldn’t let them take me to the hospital for checkup if I don’t delete my pictures and videos
— Zainab Oladehinde (@zainabdehinde) April 16, 2022
40 pic.twitter.com/0aQfZoJTYN
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. The police men at the Nungwi police station in Zanzibar kept on bullying and harassing me. Told me to leave their police station that I wasn’t raped and they had confirmed there was no penetration from the nurses.
Since the her Twitter thread has gone viral, many people have called out the hotel and demanded an explanation on why an incident as severe as this was not handled with more urgency.
Warere Beach, the hotel in which Zainab was assaulted, finally released a statement.
The statement did little to help salvage the image of the hotel, obviously.
"This response is rather lame, rude & condescending. This Hotel is truly unrepentant. This whole response only succeeded in smearing Zainab’s personality. They responded because their Google Rating went from 4.5 to 1.2. Please Boycott WARERE BEACH HOTEL Nungwi Zanzibar, Tanzania". (Facebook user)
What an incredibly horrific ordeal and one that further sheds light on gender-base violence and the need for more protection for women.
You can read Zainab's full Twitter thread below:
It’s high time I told my horrible experience in Zanzibar as a young solo female traveler.
— Zainab Oladehinde (@zainabdehinde) April 16, 2022
This incident happened a year ago in April of 2021 but I haven’t been able to talk about it cause I’ve been in therapy for a year to heal from the psychological trauma as this experience
The Zanzibar Commission for Tourism
http://www.zanzibartourism.go.tz/
has also released a statement:
Image courtesy of: @Zainab/Twitter
