MPs call for urgent action against defilement

Effective strategies should be devised to curtail the rise in cases of defilement and teen pregnancies, Members of Parliament have urged. Defilement means any sexual intercourse with a child under the age of 18 years old, whether or not the person consents. One of the most shocking cases that parliament heard on Monday was that Rwanda Investigation Bureau (RIB) has so far probed three infanticide cases in which fathers had sought to cover up defilement. The MPs made their appeal on Monday during a session that was intended to prevent child abuse for them to be healthy and decent citizen for their country’s and their own development. The session was organised by the Rwanda Women Parliamentary Forum (RWPF) and was attended by representatives of the Rwanda Investigation Bureau (RIB), Rwanda National Police, as well as the National Public Prosecution Authority. Isabelle Kalihangabo, RIB Deputy Secretary-General, said infanticide started being reported last year after Rwanda started using DNA in managing defilement cases. “This heinous crime is being perpetrated as the culprits are attempting to escape justice through the distortion of evidence because they fear that the DNA tests would reveal their identity,” she said. Kalihangabo added that, for the last three years, the top crime committed against children was defilement, whereby in 2016/2017, they received 3,060 cases while as of August this year, they had risen to 3,512. Some15,696 teenage girls were impregnated by August 2019, however, the figure includes cases that have not yet been investigated, RIB says. MP Safari Begumisa said child defilement should be a national issue and that culprits should be punished seriously. “It is a scandal that a teacher rapes a student. We should raise awareness about this issue, but, also, identified cases should be tried at the crime scene so that people attend them and learn from the sentences against the criminals,” he said. MP Marie Pélagie Uwamariya Rutijanwa wondered why the cases are on the rise yet there are laws punishing the crime, as well as campaigns against it. “As this is a serious issue, it needs special strategies for it to be addressed,” she said, calling for building capacities of children for them to be able to detect malefactors. Causes of concealment, and consequences some of the challenges that the investigation faces, Kalihangabo said, is concealment of the evidence, especially by parents and custodians of the affected children. That concern is also prevalent among teenage girls aged between 14 and 17 where in most cases, the children think that they are in love with those who rape them, as they do not want to denounce those they think are their lovers. “Sometimes the cases are identified when they reach health facilities and the nurses report them as per the instructions of the Ministry of Health that any pregnant child should be taken to Isange One Stop centre which provides free services for victims of child domestic abuse and gender-based violence],” she said. “Some parents do not want that the fact that their children were defiled be exposed. Then, they negotiate with the culprits or their families so as to conceal the truth about it”. In addition, she said, it has been realised that there are situations in which some local leaders partner to cover up for the suspects. Kalihangabo said that the victims suffer unplanned pregnancies which affects their development. editor@newtimesrwanda.com

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MPs call for urgent action against defilement