A holidaymaker’s account of how she was nearly raped at a popular beach front hotel in Zanzibar, Tanzania, is placing sharp focus on the dangers of solo travel, particularly for women.

Zainab Oladehinde posted a long thread on Twitter about her ordeal, which has since gone viral on the social media site. She says she booked into the Warere Hotel in Zanzibar in April 2021 to celebrate her 23rd birthday, but little did she know the horror she would experience on what was to be an otherwise time alone.

“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 has been the most painful and traumatic experience I’ve ever faced in my entire life. Infact! I’m glad I’m still alive today to share my story,” Oladehinde writes at the start of her thread.

‘IT WASN’T A DREAM’ – WOMAN’S ORDEAL AT ZANZIBAR HOTEL

One night, just a few hours into her sleep at the Warere Beach Hotel, she says she could feel someone touch her breast – but figured it was just a dream. Especially because she had locked all the doors before tucking herself in. But then after a few minutes, she could feel her hands touching a man’s penis, which prompted her to wake up.

“Low and behold, it wasn’t a dream. There was a naked man lying on my bed and touching me at 2am in my hotel room ! 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,” she wrote.

Oladehinde then asked the man who he was before he placed his hands on her mouth to prevent her from screaming for help. The man kept on speaking Swahili and not English – she then decided to lie to him by claiming she was HIV positive and that he would need a condom before 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. So I continued begging him and telling him I’d allow him have sex with me but he’d need to go get a condom so as not to get HIV. I saw that he reacted to the word “HIV” so I kept on saying HIV whilst crying profusely at this point”

Zainab Oladehinde

At some point, he agrees to leave the hotel room to go and get a condom, which was her chance to flee. She tried calling the Warere Beach Hotel reception area for assistance and even reached out to what is believed to be a hotel staffer on Whatsapp, but to no avail. Scared and knowing that the mystery man would return, Oladehinde went to the hotel room of a Russian couple she had met.