Genocide widows in Mandela and Gatoro villages of Ntarama sector, Bugesera district, who were raped during the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi, have expressed the need to get reparations as part of restoring their dignity.
Kankuyo Esperance, 62, is one of widows who told IGIHE with much chagrin as she remembered bad memories.
“We were tortured, the dead bodies of relatives eaten by dogs. They cut me with a machete and bled profusely. They had raped me with a 19-year young girl who was later taken away and killed. I didn’t request compensation since perpetrators are jailed and have no financial means. We request the government to take care of us and provide compensation,” she said.
Other than the psychological wounds that often haunt them, they say that they meet other challenges in daily lives including their getting destroyed by rainstorms with no any form of support going their way.
“We have cried for help but received no assistance,” said Françoise Ingabire a 39 year old widow.
The mayor of Bugesera district, Emmanuel Nsanzumuhire says that matters of these widows are known adding that they are seeking for means of building houses for those who are living in old houses built in 1996.
Regarding request for compensation, the mayor says that it requires to bring rape cases to courts adding that they can help in the implementation of courts’ decisions.
He requested residents to avoid genocide ideology and support genocide survivors in addition to providing information on location of remains of genocide victims so they can be accorded decent burial.
The umbrella organization of Tutsi genocide widows (AVEGA-Agahozo) says that 1,599 of 20,000 members are HIV/AIDS positive, infected during the genocide rapes with 1,122 children born out of rape.
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