It felt like the end of the world to her, a mother in pain and frustration her only plea was please help me. Her daughter was raped for a second time.The perpetrator took advantage of the fact that she is deaf and mute and also suffers from a mental disorder.
The incident happened in the small town of Magugu in the Babati district. Following the incident, the mother of a 19-year-old girl reached out to a local activist who connected her to The Chanzo.
“It has reached a point where I am really tired, why are we abused to this extent, where should we go?” asked the mother of the abused daughter when speaking to The Chanzo.
“I left for her for ten minutes to take the cake to a neighboring shop for sale, when I got back, I found the door locked and I heard cries. I broke the door with my neighbor’s assistance, and that is how we found the perpetrator naked raping her,” she told The Chanzo.
This was not the first time, an incident like this happened. It also happened in 2022, the case was tried and the culprit was sentenced to thirty years in prison. After staying in prison for four months, he was released on technicality following an appeal.
The mother of the victim said that since the first case, her life has been made miserable with threats from the family of the suspect, this was because the family had tried to bribe her but she had refused.
Government Intervention
This second incident, brought the level of desperation to un-imaginable level.
“Police have advised us that we should try to find the suspect and that when we see him, we should call them and they will come to arrest him, how am I going to do that?” she asked in a frustrated tone.
After The Chanzo had published the story on February 06,2024, several government offices intervened including the District Commissioner, the Ministry of Community Development, Gender, Women and Special Groups, and Police.
Community Development Officer, January Raphael confirmed that processes to revisit the first case have started. “We are revisiting the court proceeding to see what happened in the first case,” said Mr. Raphael.
The Manyara region Police Commander, ACP George Katabazi has confirmed that one man was arrested on February 11, 2024, in connection with the incident.
The Minister responsible for the Ministry of Community Development, Gender, Women, and Special Groups, Dorothy Gwajima confirmed that the government is looking for a safe place to place the victim.
“We have noticed that there might be a challenge with her surrounding environment, we are continuing with the process to resolve that.”
Jackline Kuwanda is a Dodoma-based The Chanzo correspondent. She’s available at Jackline@thechanzo.com.
