It is not easy for a 19-year-old to come to terms with the fact that she was defiled and impregnated by her own father.

Seated and carrying her one-and-a-half-year-old baby on the laps, Kwihangana (not real name) sorrowfully narrates her journey through the valley of depression.

"I could not recount my story before due to psychological shock. My father tried to kill me as soon as he realised I had conceived,” Kwihangana, who is currently living at Centre Marembo, a transient centre in Gasabo District, says.

Kwihangana is the only child in her family. She has neither brother nor sister. Her story

My mother died when I was 12 years old. I had no one else to live with as my father was in prison, so I went to live with my grandmother in Gitarama (Muhanga District) .

After some time, my father was released, but he went to Kigali in search of employment.

Unfortunately, in 2008, my grandmother passed away and my father came back home to look after me.

After my grandmother’s funeral, my father assured me that he would do everything possible to give me a good life and future.

But one day I was shocked when he asked me to sleep with him. I refused, but he forced me, threatening to kill me if I dared report the incident.

From then onwards, it became a routine. We lived like wife and husband. Recognising the pregnancy

In 2013, I became pregnant. When I told my father, he asked me not to tell any other person, promising to help me to abort.

He gave me herbs which I applied secretly for days; they failed to induce the abortion. At the time, I was in Senior Three at a school in Gitarama.

One evening while in our coffee plantation a man donning a hood attacked me.

As I fled, three other men pursued and grabbed me. I tried to make an alarm, but they covered my mouth with their palms.

They poured a certain substance in my eyes and ears, before cutting my head using knives. I lost consciousness.

When I woke up hours later, I was at the University Teaching Hospital of Kigali (CHUK).

I could not remember what had taken place.

An aunt who was taking care of me narrated how they had picked me up from a coffee plantation unconscious with many injuries on my body.

Fortunately, I recovered.

The injuries on my head affected my brain. I could not remember anything, and my left ear could not hear clearly.

My aunt also told me that they had taken me to Kabgayi Hospital suspecting that I had been raped by my attackers.

I was given prophylactic treatment to protect me from contracting HIV/AIDS.

Days later, I told my aunt that I felt ‘funny’.

She took me to CHUK, where I was confirmed pregnant.

My aunt asked me the person I had slept with, but I was cagey.

The doctors told her not to coerce me for an answer until I had recovered.

Fortunately, I got back to my senses although I felt a lot of psychological torture.

I finally opened up to my aunt in order to relieve myself.

I understood the risks involved after revealing that my father was responsible for the pregnancy.

Later on, I gave birth to a baby boy. Reporting to Police

My aunt decided to report the case to the Police as soon as I had narrated everything.

They took me and the baby to the University Teaching Hospital of Kigali to carry out tests.

My father was also taken to the same hospital and his blood sample was taken for a DNA test.

But before the results came out, he disappeared because he knew he was responsible.

The results, indeed, confirmed his paternity of the child.

The Police mounted a hunt for him, but to date, he remains on the run.

Her worries

With all these things unfolding, I feared for my life. I was always scared that the people who had made an attempt on my life earlier would finally complete their mission.

I could not go back home because my family’s property had already been taken by my father’s relatives.

Also, my father’s relatives were not happy with me because I reported the case.

Kwihangana’s aunt says she looked after her until the International Justice Mission took her to Centre Marembo. Safety at Centre Marembo

I am now free and safe at this centre. I have got a new mother, Nicolette Umubyeyi, the coordinator of Centre Marembo.

She always tries to keep me busy so that I get over the bitter memories.

My child is now one-and-six-month old. This year, I resumed studies and I am now in Senior Two.

Umubyeyi is helping me and my little child. My target is to finish O’ Level and join a technical and vocational institute.

I still experience some psychological torture. I seem to have a short memory and I do not hear clearly. Also, one of my eyes has a problem.

I would wish to get access to my parents’ property, but I am not sure how I can secure it.

I also call on the Police to intensify the search for my father so he faces justice.

I appeal to young girls to report cases of abuse. I think there are so many such cases that go unreported. ‘New Mother’ speaks out

Umubyeyi says she is happy to give Kwihangana and her child a life.

She appeals to the community to respect children rights.

"Children deserve their rights. It is beyond human understanding to hear that a mature man defiled his own daughter. It is shocking. She was brought here in December last year. We have been taking care of her and her child. It is also not understandable how her father has eluded arrest. I have been working closely with the Police to help the victim. The girl is continuing her studies although it is still difficult for her to perform well due to the injuries she sustained,” Umubyeyi says.

She appeals to the community to always report cases of abuse to the Police.

Marembo Centre is a youth–centered NGO working with abandoned, abused, orphaned and other categories of vulnerable children with the aim of giving them an opportunity for a better future.

Currently, Centre Marembo looks after 58 children with distinctive cases.

What the Police say

The Southern Province Police spokesperson CSP Hubert Gashagaza confirmed Kwihangana’s case.

"Kwihangana’s case was reported to us last year. We have been carrying out investigations. The DNA test revealed that the man impregnated his own daughter. Unfortunately, the accused man fled before the results came out. Currently, we are still hunting for him to face the law,” Gashagaza said.

A person who commits defilement is liable to life imprisonment under the penal code.

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