By Santigie Kanu
Sahied Tholley is reported to have allegedly escaped with his 10 year old daughter, Mariama Tholley, from an FGM initiation shrine at Yele town, Gbonkolenken Chiefdom, Tonkolili District, Northern Sierra Leone.
According to eyewitness account who begged not to be named because of reprisals, it all began when Sahied Tholley’s daughter was forcefully taken to a shrine for onward FGM ritual initiation. The eyewitness maintained that on 12th of September 2021,
Sahied Tholley, upon receiving the news that his daughter has been forcefully taken away, he wasted no time but to hurriedly forcefully enter the barricaded shrine where Mariama was being kept awaiting FGM initiation. The eyewitness explained that, when Sahied entered the shrine, he met Mariama’s face and was tied with a red piece of cloth in order for her not to see those who were to initiate her.
The witness further explained that Sahied used his feasts to bulldoze his way out of the shrine, but before he could get out of the said shrine, he also allegedly hit one of the women on her spinal cord which eventually led to her collapse on the ground. The witness said Sahied’s was severly beaten with sticks by the society’s women. It is reported that after Sahied had escaped with Mariama to a nearby village, the disgruntled initiators tried to rush their colleague to the Lion heart medical centre in yele but passed away before arriving there. Our eyewitness disclosed that when the news broke about the forceful removal of Mariama from the shrine by her father, and the death of one of their colleagues, society women within and outside Yele community mobilzed and stormed the residence of Sahied and allegedly vandalized it vowing to set it ablaze if he failed to surrender his daughter to them. FGM initiation is almost legal in
Sierra Leone and perpetrators are not held accountable. Police say they are investigating the matter. As at press time last night, the whereabouts of Sahied Tholley and his 10 year old daughter’s are still unknown. We are monitoring the situation.
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