Police in Nyamagabe has arrested a man who has for the last two years been defiling his three daughters constantly.
The accused, Felicien Munyendamutsa, a 43 years old man, reportedly had sexual intercourse with his three biological daughters, aged 17, 15 and 14 years old for about two years but due to the psychological shock, the girls feared to report their father to the authority.
The incest acts started after Munyendamutsa fell out with his wife and separated. The wife moved to Bugesera District leaving the man with their three daughters.
Since then, the girls’ (Names Withheld) lives changed and according to their teachers and neighbors, they seemed traumatized, lonely and could not concentrate in class.
“By then, teachers realized that there was something off with the girls; they engaged them to establish what was going on but the girls seemed very hesitant to speak out. After sometime, they indeed said that their father was having sexual intercourse with them. Teachers summoned Munyendamutsa who admitted that he had attempted ‘touching’ the girls but denied having had sexual intercourse with them,” said Claudette Usabuwera a teacher at Ecole Primaire Mugombwa who reported the case to police.
According to Usabuwera, after the school authorities engaged Munyendamutsa he decided to force the two elder girls out of school but the last born remained in school she’s currently in Usabuwera’s class.
“During my classes, I realized the girl could show up dirty, sometimes she would be so hungry; that’s when I engaged her to ascertain what was going on and indeed after a lengthy conversation she told me she was being tortured by her father because she stopped having sexual intercourse with him,” said Usabuwera.
Usabuwera hurriedly reported the case to local leaders and the police and indeed, during preliminary investigations the girls indeed acknowledged that their father has for long been having sexual intercourse with the two older girls but the youngest had refused to have intercourse with the father again.
The information sharing is an indicator of how community policing is improving the level of individual responsibility to report crime.
Police arrested Munyandamutsa who is currently held at Gasaka Police Station and took the girls to Kigeme Hospital for medical examinations. The girls are now under police care as investigations proceed.
Although cases of incest are very rare in Rwanda, the Southern Province Police spokesperson, Chief Inspector of Police (CIP) Andre Hakizimana warned that, besides being incest, it’s also criminal.
Defilement means any sexual intercourse or any sexual act with a child regardless of the form or means used, the fact that the three girls are minors automatically means Munyendamutsa will be charged with defilement.
“The law clearly states in article 192 of the penal code that if child defilement is committed by his or her parent or guardian, the offender shall be liable to life imprisonment with special provisions and a fine Rwf 100,000 to Rwf 500,000. After investigations and compiling medical reports, we will forward the case to the prosecution; but as of now the two girls are accusing their father of defilement,” said CIP Hakizimana.
Leave a Reply