MUSANZE- Musanze Intermediate Court this week, sentenced three teenage girls to a one year jail sentence each after finding them guilty of undergoing abortions.

The girls pleaded guilty to the charges, saying the men who had impregnated them swayed them to do so.

Court heard that the trio on separate occasions swallowed traditional herbs known as ‘Umuhoko’, mixed with soap, which eventually induced the abortion.

The prosecution had sought five-year jail sentences for each of the defendants, but the presiding judge, Izabera Riziki, ruled that a one year jail term was appropriate considering the ages of the accused.

Article 83 of the penal code, states that a crime carrying between five to 20 years sentence can be reduced to one sentence depending on the circumstances of the case.

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