TheCable

Um Haleemah, a 16-year-old girl abducted by Boko Haram, is the subject of intense stigmatisation for her refusal to abort the pregnancy she came about during a forced marriage with a Boko Haram member.

Captured in 2014 while trying to escape from a Boko Haram-ransacked town, Haleemah said she had no choice but to helplessly watch the insurgents slaughter men, women and even children.

While speaking with CNN, she said she initially rejected Boko Haram’s plan to marry her: When they announced their plans of marrying us, we rejected it, then we realised we had no choice. We watched how they slaughtered so many women and men, so we got frightened.”

Haleemah, who had been planning her escape for some time, eventually made an attempt, but was caught by the insurgents and beaten.

“I had planned my escape from the beginning. There was a time my husband spent two weeks away, so I attempted to escape but guards returned me and beat me.”

She eventually escaped from her captors, to realise the same sect had killed her father back home, and seven months into the pregnancy, she still has to battle stigma within her own household.

Um Haleemah Pregnancy

“People in this village are rejecting me because of the pregnancy. Some will be happy to have me dead. Many people are even saying that I should go for an abortion.”

However, Haleemah’s mother also supports her daughter’s aversion to an abortion, saying she could not afford to lose her again to likely abortion complications.

“Anybody captured by Boko Haram is presumed dead. They abducted my step-daughter‎ and my daughter. They took a total of seven girls from this house,” she said.

“We heard about one girl who died after she attempted an abortion, losing both the mother and the baby. The girl was the only child to her mother, so that scared us. If God wishes, she will give birth safely. Life is in the hands of God alone.”

The leader of the vigilante group protecting Haleemah’s community denied claims of stigmatisation, although he branded the pregnancy “Haram” (unlawful).

“I am not aware of any woman in this village who was impregnated by them (Boko Haram),” he said.

If any woman is found to be pregnant, in our tradition, the pregnancy is considered Haram (unlawful), hence we cannot accept them wholeheartedly because they can be like baby snakes.”