Community Activist’s role promotes justice for a 10 year old Child who was defiled It took great bravery for ten-year old Tina (not her real name) to speak up against the man who defiled her. “Her courage bore the fruits of justice after a two year judicial process that saw my daughter and I go through intimidation from our clan members and her schoolmates,” says Awinja (not her real name), Tina’s mother. According to Awinja, the ordeal left her daughter psychologically traumatised. “Her schoolmates teased her on why she spoke against the perpetrator, while his relatives piled pressure on me to have an out of court settlement,” says Awinja. “However, I kept on the fight in the hope that justice will be served.”
Awinja and Caren Omanga while giving account of the defilement case
Two years ago, eight-year-old Tina in the company of her cousin went to a nearby forest to fetch firewood. This was at around 4.00pm when an 18-year-old neighbour approached them. He called Tina to the side and told her to follow him a few metres away. In her innocence Tina could not suspect that he had ill intentions. It was here that he defiled and left her at the scene crying in pain. By the time Tina’s cousin came to her rescue, it was too late as the deed had been done. With the support of her cousin, the two girls were able to walk back home where they reported what had transpired to Tina’s uncle. He then took the young girl to the market place where her mother trades. On being informed what had happened to her daughter, Awinja immediately rushed her to the nearby dispensary where it was confirmed that she had been defiled. Tina was immediately given treatment and afterwards they went to report the case at the police station where a P-3 form was filled and the perpetrator arrested the same night of the incident. The following day he was taken to Nyando Law Courts, Kisumu County where the judge ordered he be remanded at Kodiaga Prisons pending hearing of the case, as he was unable to raise bail. The arrest helped calm Tina’s fears for a short time as the perpetrator was soon able to raise enough money to be released on bail. Soon he and his clan’s men started threatening Tina’s mother demanding that she drops the case. Awinja was shaken and confused not knowing where to seek help as the harassment continued. “The clan elders came threatening me that the perpetrator was an orphan hence we should sit down as a clan and have the matter settled out of court,” recalls Awinja. She adds: “I was afraid of what would happen to my daughter after the paedophile was released and all the clan elders ganged up against me for being adamant on proceeding with the legal process.” It was around this time that Caren Omanga, chairperson of Nyabende Support Programmes got wind of the plans by clan elders to have the case withdrawn and settled out of court.
“I came to know of the plans by the elders through the area chief who has been working closely with us in addressing response and prevention to Gender Based Violence (GBV),” says Omanga. Omanga took up the case and ensured that it went through the court process. She would drop by the market place where Awinja sells tomatoes and vegetables just to check up on and give her psychosocial support. At one point, Awinja had been informed by a court officer that her daughter’s case file was lost but as it was to be confirmed later by Omanga, the file was not lost. It was just a ploy by the officer to have Awinja give up on following the court proceedings. “I would hear from the villagers that the perpetrator had reported to them that the case file got lost hence the case could not continue and it would just a matter of time before the case was thrown out of court,” Awinja recalls. Omanga stood her ground, intent to follow up with the court amidst the confusion and rumours spread within the community by the perpetrator and his relatives. Tina did not have a lawyer to represent her in court but Omanga, being a paralegal who has been working on such cases, represented her in court. She would advise Awinja on what to do and keep her up to date with the court process. She would also counsel Tina as she prepared to give her account in court on what transpired. For two years, Omanga stood by Awinja and her daughter even as the case met setback after setback at the Nyando Law Courts. The delivery of the sentence was delayed several times as the perpetrator boasted that he would never be convicted for the crime. Many a time the court process would stop or be delayed on grounds that the accused was sick or unable to attend court sessions. However, on July 2015, the tides turned in favour of Tina. The accused was found guilty of defilement by the court and sentenced to life imprisonment. “The sentencing was a relief as justice prevailed. I no longer have to worry that the perpetrator will walk scot free and continue to intimidate me and my daughter, and probably continue to defile other children in the village,” says Awinja. Today, Omanga through Nyabende Support Programmes takes Tina through psychosocial support to allow her heal from the abuse. She has since been transferred to another school to avoid being stigmatised by her schoolmates. Nyabende Support Programmes is a community based organisation that is an implementing partner of the Peace Initiative Kenya project based in Kisumu County. Working in line with the PIK project’s mission and vision, Nyabende works to provide legal and psychosocial support to survivors of GBV. It works with men and women in the community as well as county and national leadership to create an enabling environment for coordination of GBV response and prevention.