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Report: Angelina Jolie's Daughter Zahara Conceived During Rape
Tuesday November 20, 2007

Angelina Jolie and Zahara
Angelina Jolie and Zahara visit Borders book store on September 20, 2007 in New York City.
James Devaney/WireImage.com

Angelina Jolie's adopted two-year-old girl Zahara was conceived after her mother was raped, the woman told Reuters in a new interview.

Mentwabe Dawit said she was attacked in 2004 after walking home from work at a construction site at night in the southern Ethiopian town of Awasa.

"He pulled a dagger, put one hand on my mouth, so that I could not scream. He then raped me and disappeared," she tearfully recalled to Reuters.

Dawit, 24, kept it a secret until she could no longer hide her pregnancy.

She gave birth to the child in the family's home, naming her baby girl Yemsrach (which means good news in the Amharic language).

Unable to feed the child, the baby "became malnourished and was even unable to cry," Dawit told Reuters. "I was desperate and decided to run away, rather than see my child dying."

Distraught, Dawit's mother put the child up for adoption.

Dawit denied erroneous recent reports that she wanted her birth daughter — whom Jolie, 32, renamed Zahara — back.

"I have never disputed the adoption of my baby by Angelina Jolie," she said.

"I think my daughter is a very fortunate human being to be adopted by a world famous lady. I wish them both all the success they deserve."

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