My brother raped my cousin

Dear Pastor,

I am 19 years old. My sister is 17 years old and is living with our parents. We have an older brother, but he moved out and went to live with his girlfriend. He is 23 years old.

A cousin of ours on my father's side came to stay with us for a week. She had an appointment in Kingston.

She didn't have any money after she did everything she wanted. My brother promised to give her some money. He told her that he and his girlfriend were going to the movies so she could go with them. We asked him if we could go with them, and he said no because he could only afford to take his girlfriend and his cousin.

We did not think anything of it. He borrowed his girlfriend's car and picked her up.

My parents didn't think anything of it either. He didn't bring her back until late. When she came back, we asked her how the movies were.

She started to cry and told us that our brother took her to the movies but his girlfriend did not go, and when they were coming back, he forced her to have sex with him and she threatened to report him and he begged her not to do so.

She said she would still report it because she was a virgin and she had a boyfriend and she had not even had sex with her boyfriend as yet.

We couldn't believe that our brother would have sex with our cousin. She said she was going to complain to our parents.

I called my brother and told him that I wanted to see him, and he admitted that he had sex with her, but it was she who gave it to him.

Our cousin is worried that she could get pregnant because he did not use a condom.

Sometimes we blame ourselves for letting her go with our brother to the movies. We didn't think anything would go wrong, but that he had everything planned.

We will save him from prison, but how is she going to explain to her boyfriend that she is no longer a virgin?

M. H.

Dear M. H.,

Your brother is a wicked man and he should consider himself very fortunate that this girl did not report him to the police.

He said it was consensual sex, but he knows that he was lying. He set it up. He didn't want you and your sister to go to the movies with him. He lied to her by telling her that his girlfriend was also going. He wanted time with her.

She will hate him for life. She is not to be blamed at all for anything. I have insisted that all rapes should be reported.

You begged for your brother because you wanted to spare him from prison, but the emotional, psychological, and physical scars that he has left on this girl will remain there forever. She should be prepared to tell her boyfriend the truth. I hope that he will believe her. Encourage your cousin to talk to a family counsellor or psychologists. She needs all the support that she can get. Your brother deserves prison time.

Pastor