{Rwanda National Police (RNP) has strongly warned members of the public against committing the terrible crime of infanticide and child abandonment, which are criminal offences under articles 143 and 231, respectively, of the penal code. }
Infanticide, under article 143, is committed when a person kills his or her biological adopted child, and it’s punishable by life sentence.
Child abandonment or neglect of a child in an open place by a parent or a guardian, on the other hand, attracts a term of imprisonment between two to five years and a fine between Rwf20, 000 and Rwf100, 000.
The message comes in the wake of the seemingly increasing related crimes, according to Police reports.
Similar alarming incident happened on March 30 in Rubavu District, where a woman, identified as Josiane Uwamahoro, 20, a resident of Busasama Sector, supposedly killed her baby moments after she had given birth.
Police preliminary investigations indicate that Uwamahoro dumped the baby in a pit latrine with the help of an accomplice, Speciose Mujawamariya, who is believed to have helped in delivering the baby.
Residents in the area who heard the baby’s groaning intervened and pulled the child from the latrine. Unfortunately, the innocent baby succumbed to the inhuman conditions and was already dead by the time residents retrieved it.
The body was taken to Gisenyi Hospital for postmortem while both the mother and her suspected accomplice are held at Busasama Police Station as investigations continue.
The Director of Anti-GBV and Child Protection Directorate at Rwanda National Police, Superintendent Belline Mukamana, noted that “such crimes are happening in society” despite the “government’s call against child abuse.”
“Parents, guardians and the general public should take heed and treat every child with utmost care,” Supt. Mukamana said.
“There is no excuse for infanticide. Much as many people look for excuses to commit this evil, such as having a misconception that they were forced by poverty or fear of public perception, it is simply evil, intolerable and an inhuman criminal act punishable by committing the culprit to spend the rest of life in prison,” she added.
“It’s simple; If you feel you are not ready to have children, there are ways like using protection or family planning methods – which the government and private sector have promoted throughout the country.”
Supt. Mukamana also commended the public for always responding to Police calls to fight and prevent criminality in the country, through community policing initiatives, which encourages police-public partnership in the maintenance of law and order.
She also called on parents to desist from the habit of child neglect and abandonment, which are unlawful injustices that also put children in harm’s way.
Statistics from the Police Anti-GBV and Child Protection Office indicate that between 2012 and 2014, at least 40 cases infanticide were reported, each year. At least 69 cases of parents or guardians abandoning their defendants, were also recorded during the same period.
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