Some men who commit defilement are now killing their own children born out of it, Rwanda Investigation Bureau (RIB) has said. According to RIB, some abusers have resorted to committing infanticide because they fear that subsequent DNA tests might implicate them. Isabelle Kalihangabo, Deputy Secretary-General at RIB, told Parliament this week that RIB has received three cases of that nature in which two children were killed while another was rescued. The details emerged on Monday during a session organised by Rwanda Women Parliamentary Forum to assess the challenges associated with violence against children. An investigator uses facilities of Rwanda Forensic Laboratory to gather evidence. Emmanuel Kwizera. The session was also attended by representatives of Rwanda National Police as well as the National Public Prosecution Authority. The details come in the wake of rising cases of defilement with RIB figures showing that in the 2016/2017 fiscal year, they received 3,060 cases of defilement, a figure which rose to 3,512 cases by August this year. As of August this year, some 15,696 teenage girls had been impregnated. Kalihangabo said that the culprits are always attempting to avoid the responsibility of taking care of the children and the mothers. She disclosed that the first case happened last year while two others took place this year. They were all handed over to courts, she added. Investigators at work. Since its inauguration, last year, Rwanda Forensic Laboratory has significantly improved criminal investigations. Emmanuel Kwizera “This is a new challenge we have started facing. Because DNA test is normally conducted in case of defilement to identify the father of the baby, the man in question plots to kill the baby before they undergo the test,” she said. After finding out about this new reality, RIB says that it can now take the DNA samples of the deceased before they are buried and then compare with the suspects to establish if they are the father. Such cases, she said, generally, occur in situations where the defiled child hides the identity of those who impregnated them. “We encourage the girls to report these cases to avoid being victims of their defilers who might end up killing them,” she said. Jules Marius Ntete, the Inspector General of National Public Prosecution Authority, said there was need for more investment in crime scene management, which is still a daunting challenge for investigators. He said that the solution to the problem does not lie in prosecution alone but rather also through preventive measures. editor@newtimesrwanda.com
