A single young mother who believes she was defiled, seeks justice of her innocent child’s rights that have been violated.
Kirezi Mbabazi, 22, is a single mother, head of family, living in Kicukiro district in the City of Kigali. She says that she was impregnated in 2017, when she was only 17; and her son is 4 years old by now.
“I was only 17 years old when I got pregnant and the father of this innocent boy was 18 at that time. It was my first sexual intercourse,” she told Pressbox during exclusive interview at her home in Gahanga Sector.
Kirezi, who believes what happened to her is defilement, says that she and her family did not have any intention to report the case into judicial procedures. But the only pain they have faced since then, is that the man has not given support to the kid since then, and he is still quiet until now.
“I feel deeply disappointed and saddened by his unwillingness to support me in upbringing and raising this child. He is not caring to the point that he hasn’t even accepted to go with me to register the child under our names as his parents,” Kirezi explained.
“That makes me feel depressed to the extent that I sometimes think of committing suicide,” she added.
Kirezi says she needs advocacy for the child to have his rights to identity, health, education etc. She highlights complications to find the basic needs that include health insurance and school fees payment for the child.
The child who will turn 5 in November 2022, studies in Nursery School but it is always difficult to find the school fees, according to his mom.
Pressbox spoke to the alleged man, whose name is Felicien Niyibizi who said: “I sometimes provide financial means for health insurance and school fees from my limited means. I regret having not registered our son on time but I am willing to do so”.
Possible interventions
Speaking to Pressbox about the case, Emmanuel Rutubuka, the Executive Secretary of Gahanga Sector in Kicukiro District said that it is his first time to hear that case, and promised to follow up. “We are going to follow up on the case, if we find that there is indeed a violation of the child’s rights, we will start the process of resolving it, in the interest of the child, the mother and the laws,” he said.
Asked about which help they can deliver, Christine Umuhoza, National Coordinator of Young African Defenders in Action (YADA), an organization that basically works in favor of vulnerable young women, said: “That family needs justice. It is not good for them to have kept quiet. I think the young mother kept quiet because she did not know her rights. YADA is ready to approach that family and help them find the deserved rights of the child”.
According to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, the most accepted standard in the world, Children’s rights include the right to health, education, family life, play and recreation, an adequate standard of living and to be protected from abuse and harm.
