Crime and Punishment

Three weeks ago: a 9 yr old child came with her mother to the clinic with a terrible story. She had been walking to school that morning when a man dragged her into the bushes and raped her. She was trembling and unable to look at the female clinician as her mother told her story. Fortunately, this kind of crime is unusual in our area where everyone knows everyone else but it can carry a heavy toll for the victim. Because of the high incidence of HIV in our district there’s a chance she may have been infected. And because of stigma, she may have to be moved out of the family home to live with a relative in another community.

But when she came into our clinic, our main concern was her immediate medical needs. Rape victims first need a forensic exam which is only done at a district clinic. Paul was asked to drive them there, accompanied by a member of our RCAR (Reaching Children at Risk) team who works with kids who have lost one or more of their parents to HIV. This little girl had lost her father. She was tested for HIV and started on preventative medicines. The whole process took the better part of the day and Paul never heard the girl speak. He described her as looking like she was in shock. Using a translator he encouraged the mother to bring the child in for counseling.

Paul stayed until she was done so he could drive the girl and her mother home safely. They live in a remote area that is accessed by turning off a dirt road onto a narrow path that meanders through a meadow and then into a large area thick with vegetation. The path eventually became impassable by truck so they walked the last short distance to the family home. It was easy to see how vulnerable a child would be walking in the area unaccompanied.

There isn’t a formal police force in most areas so it’s usually up to the chief or to a community committee to handle problems and crimes. In this case the chief of her village planned to call a meeting that required everyone to attend. He would have the girl come, and in front of everyone, identify her attacker if he was there. The girl didn’t know her assailant but said she could recognize him again because he wore his hair in dreadlocks. She would have to be a very strong girl to get through such an ordeal.

10 days ago: One of our drivers came to the cook house on the weekend to get the keys to the ambulance. He had been told that the rapist had been caught and needed to be taken to the police station by Lalmba. As the story unfolded we learned that our RCAR worker learned who the rapist was and where he might be staying. He called one of our administrative staff at midnight to say he would need a small amount of money to hire 2 men to catch and subdue him. She readily gave her approval.

When the rapist arrived at the district police station he vehemently denied the charges. The police said they couldn’t keep him unless the girl came to identify him. So once again our driver was called into duty. He drove to the girl’s house which was about 45 minutes away and outlined the situation to the mother. With great resolve she agreed to go with her daughter to the station. Once there, the girl easily identified her assailant from a line up of 4 men prompting the man to confess and ask for leniency. The police told him he would be taken to District Court in the AM and sentenced to 7 years in prison. The cowardly rapist begged our driver to get some money to bribe the mother to drop charges. I believe the driver laughed in his face.

The very next day the rapist was taken to court and found guilty of the charges and sentenced to not 7, but 14 years in prison. Justice can be swift in Kenya. No lawyers, no appeals, no hope of wiggling out of it. Now we pray the girl remains HIV free and is able to continue living at home and going to the school in her village. Only time will tell.