Mozambique: Maputo court hands down maximum sentence in child rape case

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Mozambique: Maputo court hands down maximum sentence in child rape case

1:58 CAT | 28 Aug 2020

Photo: O País

Maputo Province Judicial Court yesterday (Thursday) sentenced a 36-year-old man to 24 years in prison for the rape of a 10-year-old girl. Civil society and the victim’s family welcomed the sentence as “exemplary”.

‘Ntavase’ [the name given to the child to protect her identity] was abused in 2019, at the age of 10.

“The trial went well, and I am satisfied with the penalty. Justice helped in this crime, ” the victim’s grandmother said.

Civil society organizations, who followed the case from the beginning and supported the victim’s family, welcomed the penalty imposed by the court as dissuading others from following the same path.

“Our expectation is that this 24-year sentence, the maximum provided for by law, is a message that this is a serious crime, that it is treated with the seriousness it deserves by civil society and institutions,” Salomé Mimbir, from the Civil Society Forum for the Rights of the Child (ROSC), said.

Mimbir added it was necessary that there were mechanisms to send the message to those who needed to hear it: “In this case, people who, perhaps, think that raping a girl or a woman is a trivial crime,” she said.

Although the penalty is considered exemplary, CSOs point out that the crime leaves psychological scars that even time cannot erase.

“As much as civil society, the state, or all of us, strive, there is something that we cannot replace. We are aware that we have got an exemplary sentence, which in itself speaks loudly and sends a message. But there is a void here, in terms of this child’s physical and psychological integrity,” Mimbir said.

In addition to serving 24 years in prison, the defendant must also pay the victim a fine of 150,000 meticais [US$2105.03].

By Dário Cossa

Desfecho do Caso Ntavase
24 anos de prisão maior é a sentença dada ao violador da Ntavase, pseudônimo dado a menina que foi violada em Dezembro de 2019.
Activistas Sociais mostram a sua euforia e felicidade pois a justiça foi feita. pic.twitter.com/gwXlq61ivH

— ROSC (@RoscCrianca) August 27, 2020

Ntavase Case outcome: A man who raped a girl child in December 2019 was handed a 24 year prison sentence. Social activists who had gathered outside the court showed their satisfaction and happiness because justice has been served. https://t.co/EAtJyDrmbW

— ELTON EMEB🇲🇿 (@EMEB_Elton) August 27, 2020