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Manica: Police detain woman for sexually exploiting, poisoning daughter to force miscarriage
7:04 CAT | 04 May 2021
File photo: DW
The Mozambican police detained a woman suspected of poisoning her daughter to force the abortion of a pregnancy that resulted from sexual exploitation promoted by her mother, a source told Lusa.
The 34-year-old woman is suspected of giving her daughter a portion of poison for rats and insects in a glass of water, which she advised her to drink to get rid of the six-week pregnancy resulting from her last relationship, mediated by her mother.
The crime of poisoning was registered on Tuesday and the minor was discharged from hospital on Sunday, Mateus Mindu, spokesman for the police in Manica province, central Mozambique, told Lusa on Monday.
“The police detained the woman for the crime of poisoning after she forced her daughter to ingest harmful products to cause an abortion,” he said.
The woman, Mateus Mindu said, served as a pimp and arranged sexual encounters for her 16-year-old daughter in exchange for unspecified sums of money, having on one occasion become involved with a client, at her request, without the use of contraception, generating an unwanted pregnancy.
“It was thanks to a tip off and the prompt intervention of the police that the worst was avoided. The minor was taken to hospital and forensic work confirmed the ingestion of ‘ratex’. But after a week of hospitalisation she is fine”, assured Mateus Mindu, adding that criminal procedures are now being followed.
In statements to Lusa, the victim said that her mother had arranged a meeting with her stepfather, but she refused, considering the situation too shameful, before accepting the meeting which resulted in the pregnancy.
The case fits a profile of crimes that have been the subject of public denunciation.
Campaigns by child rights organisations and recent punishments for men who got involved with children or in early marriages are reducing this year the number of rapes against minors in the districts of Manica province.
In 2020, the police in the region recorded a record number of cases of sexual abuse of children, including babies, usually perpetrated by elderly relatives and neighbours: 45 cases were counted, almost double compared to 2019.
Source: Lusa
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