Busia county Chief Magistrate Edna Nyaloti has warned area residents against negotiating over defilement cases.
Speaking during the official launch of the National Children Service month at Busia Polytechnic ground Nyaloti said that such cases must be reported to the police and suspects be taken to court for prosecution.
“Once we take suspects to court and find them guilty, we will follow the sexual offences Act and the sentences are very punitive,” she said.
She added that members of the public should ensure that they are protected and are not threatened by perpetrators.
The Magistrate noted that defilement cases were on the rise in Busia County with the youngest victim being nine months old baby.
“At times parents of the threaten and intimidate victims of defilement by telling them not to say the truth while in court, yet medical reports show that the child was defiled,” she said.
Nyaloti further stated that perpetrators of defilement were very close relatives to the victims.
“Adolescents girls are also a challenge in defilement cases because they force younger boys into intimacy,” she said, adding such girls are supposed to be prosecuted.
She at the same time said that witnesses are also being interfered with by being given gifts and money so that they refuse to testify in court.
“Being a border County, some of the witnesses flee to the neighboring country of Uganda making it difficult for the court to conclude defilement cases,” she said, urging the local residents to cooperate with the judicial officers,
The chief magistrate at the same time advised parents against sending their children for errands during the late hours of the night, adding that disco matanga should not be encouraged.
“So I want to urge parents to engage their children in positive activities during this festive season so that they are not exposed to defilement and early pregnancies,” she said.
Busia Sub County Children’s officer Patrick Mukolwe said that the County receives 10 cases touching on defilement physical abuse in a week.
Mukolwe reiterated that victims are at times coached at the community level so that they do not tell the truth while in court.
“Sometimes they delay in reporting such cases such that when they reach our offices, there has been interference with critical evidence,” he said, adding that some families interfere with key witnesses so that they do not appear in court.
He at the same time said that most victims come from vulnerable families and they need financial support so that they can appear in court.
“We are looking forward to having a joint cross border committee so that suspects and witnesses who flee to Uganda and brought back for prosecution,” he said.
By Salome Alwanda and Rodgers Omondi
