• Newly born baby  disappeared mysteriously

Two years ago, 17-year-old, Marie Louise Nsanzimana walked into Nemba hospital in Musanze district to deliver a baby.

The delivery was successful, however, a couple of hours later, a hospital employee came to her, took her newly born baby supposedly for vaccination.

That was the last time Nsanzimana saw her baby.
Nsanzimana now 19 is still seeking answers to where her child is and how the baby disappeared.

Her case was one of the highlights of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) report that was presented in Parliament, Wednesday.

After being let down by the Musanze courts, she approached NHRC for help.

The commission then sent three investigators to find out what went wrong.

In a report compiled by the commission, investigators heard that Nsanzimana was defiled by her employer Emmanuel Sibomana, who was then the Executive Secretary of Kinihira sector of Musanze district.

Nsanzimana was working as a house help for the Executive Secretary but was later fired after revealing to Sibomana that she was pregnant.

"Personally, I believe the man who defiled her remains to be responsible for the baby who is missing up to today,” Hope Tumukunde a commissioner with NHRC said. "The baby was taken as a cover-up.”

According to a letter dated March 25, 2009 written by NHRC addressed to the President of the Supreme Court and Prosecutor General, Nsanzimana went to Rulindo police but she was turned away.

"The police asked her to wait for the baby to be born so that a DNA test could be carried out to determine the father of the child.” the letter reads in part.

However, the baby mysteriously disappeared on birth; police intervened and arrested Sibomana and two nurses from Nemba hospital.

Eight months later, Musanze court acquitted the three suspects claiming there was no sufficient evidence to press on with the charges.

In the letter to the president of the Supreme Court, NHRC contested the court ruling. The commission argued that the court ignored the fact Nsanzimana was only 17 when she was defiled. According to the Rwandan law, defilement is punishable by jail term of up to 25 years.

The commission also argued that the investigations were flawed since the hospital administration was never summoned to explain how a baby can disappear from their premises with no explanation.

"The commission requests that an in-depth investigation be conducted so that the person found guilty of defilement is punished and the whereabouts of the baby are revealed and those involved be punished,” the letter concludes.

Ends