Burundi: Vicious child molester 'will walk free'

A young Burundian woman caught on camera molesting a toddler is not liable for prosecution because he is a minor, a human rights activist in the central African state says.

Mr Jacques Nshimirimana, a commissioner with the Burundian National Independent Commission on Human Rights, said despite the seriousness of the crime committed against the infant, no criminal prosecution is possible.

"The alleged perpetrator is a minor of 14 years old while the age of criminal responsibility in Burundi is 15 years old," he said in a post on X, formerly Twitter.

The incident happened at a village in Kirundo near Rwanda's Nyamata border town, Aneclat Winnycerese, a Burundian, told Nile Post.

In the clip that has been widely shared on social media, the girl appears to walk back with a potty from the outer house and hits the infant who is crawling at the doorway.

She walks over the infant disdainfully, leaving the it wailing.

Most people with no iron will for graphic content stop at that as the pain of the first few seconds of the one minute and eight seconds clip is gross.

From the room, she unnamed perpetrator emerges with a stick too big for a six-month old infant and proceeds to administer lashes on its back and then the belly and private parts.

The video elicited strong emotions on social media, with many in Uganda immediately laughing the hunt for the perpetrator.

The State Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Mr Balaam Barugahara, doubled the emotions by staking Shs2 million reward for whoever would help police apprehend the perpetrator.

When it was revealed the perpetrator had been arrested, Minister Balaam dived in fast.

"Thanks Police and Bunamwaya community for the quick response," the minister posted on X on Friday, having strongly condemned the inhumane action a day earlier.

"The violent child abuser has been apprehended. Let the law takes it's course. She will act as a lesson to all people who abuse innocent souls."

Minister Balaam's well-intentioned post ran with a picture of a young woman supposedly as the perpetrator.

It was the picture of Bridget Tuhaise, a 23-year-old with mental illness whose family the Police in Mayuge District were searching for.

Nshimirimana said the person who filmed the whole thing should be the one in jail for failing to assist a person in danger.

"It should be noted that the girl had been hired before the legal age for admission to work, which is set at 16 years old by the labour code," Nshimirimana said.

Under the circumstances, he faulted the family head that hired the maid for breach of labour code, saying they should share the responsibility.

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