Raped at sea Woman accuses boss of sexual crime

When Jane* got a job at a watersport establishment recently, she thought it was an avenue to her independence.

She had plans of using the money to continue her education, so she showed up to work with much enthusiasm. But that zeal for her job was shortlived, and a brutal attack has scarred her life.

“I was taken to sea and raped by my boss. He ripped my virginity away. I feel numb and it’s hard to describe how I feel right now but I am not the same,” she said. Jane’s alleged rapist is currently in police custody, but she said she too feels as if she is in a prison – her own body. She told THE STAR that just days after she started working, her boss began making sexual passes at her.

He initially praised her work, and she believed he was simply being supportive as her supervisor. However, she said he later made a crude sexual proposition that left her shocked and uncomfortable. Disturbed by the encounter, she confided in a friend about what had happened.

“That same day I called someone and asked if they knew of any other jobs and they said they would check for me,” she said. Jane said her employer continued to sexually harass her, asking her about threesomes. She said he often asked her to do tasks which resulted in them being alone together.

Tired of the harassment, she went to work one day, intending for it to be the last. But that day, her boss told her that there were guests coming to book the party boat for a few hours and he wanted her to work.

“A lifeguard was on the boat with us and the guests. We went and drop off the guests to where they were going. My boss then called the lifeguard and afterwards I realised that he was the only one that came back. I honestly didn’t make much of it as I thought he had just left the lifeguard to stay with the guests,” she said.

Jane said that her boss told her they couldn’t dock, as the only available space belonged to another vessel. While they were at sea, her boss’s advances continued, even asking about performing oral sex on her.

“He kept asking although I told him no. He then told me to go and check in the bathroom [to see] if it was okay because the guests had used it. I went in the bathroom which was inside one of the guest rooms and he barged in, slapped me on my bottom and began pulling down my clothes,” Jane said.

She tried to exit the room but the man’s large physique blocked her.

“Him keep on a say him want to taste mi. Mi start get frighten and him pull down mi clothes and just put mi on the bed. Mi start lock up mi foot and him force mi foot open and force him head there. I tried to ease off the bed and him push mi back down,” she added.

Jane said she tried to fight but her strength was no match for her attacker, who penetrated her without remorse.

“It was very painful. After him finish, him ease up off mi and mi eyes full up a water,” she said. The attack left her bloodied.

She said he questioned why she had not told him she was a virgin. According to her, he instructed her to wipe away the blood with tissue and told her to take a shower. She said she was unable to do so because there was no running water. He then left to another section of the boat, saying he was going to turn on the water, and she used that opportunity to call her aunt.

Being in the open water and unable to swim, Jane had no way of escape. She told the man, who by now was acting as if nothing had happened, that she needed to get back to shore to tend to some business. The ruse worked, and that is how she got back to land.

“I then go and report him to the police and then go doctor,” Jane said. She now waits for justice.

It is unclear whether the man has been formally charged.

*name changed to protect identity