Shoddy investigations, an indifferent society and lack of proper legal mechanisms have been cited as some of the major causes that lead to child sexual offenders being set off the hook.
Machakos Senior Resident Magistrate Yusuf Abdallah Shikanda while speaking at Ngomeni Primary School today during celebrations to mark this year’s Day of African Child said as judicial officers, they are concerned with the high number of child sexual offences being recorded at the Machakos Law Court on weekly basis.
He said as judicial officers, they are tied as the conviction of each case must be based on the available evidence brought before the court.
“As a court, we must rule each case depending on the evidence available before us. However when such evidence is lacking, such a case will automatically be thrown out,” Shikanda said.
Shikanda addressed the press during the event.
He said the onus of shoddy investigations begins at the family level where most relatives are reluctant to report defilement cases especially where close member of the family is involved.
The magistrate said in such cases, the matters are usually reported to second parties who may not necessarily be related to the affected and thus not get much headway in pursuing the matter to the logical conclusion.
He is now challenging parents to take up their role in curbing the vice before it ruins the future of their children by reporting any form of sexual offences to the relevant authorities.
The officer has further advised parents against tampering with crucial evidenced such as soiled undergarments in the event of defilement as they play a critical role in sustaining the case in court.
“Most of the cases are reported too late after crucial evidence has been tampered with. In such instances it becomes quite impossible to sustain such a case in court leading to the denial of justice to the affected minor,” he explained.
Shikanda called for retraining of police officers on techniques of carrying out investigations on sexually related offences to avoid bungling up investigations.
He noted that with proper investigation and cooperation with the affected families, the culprits in such cases will be convicted and appropriate sentences passed against them.
The magistrate also called for the government to establish special courts where children related cases will be heard noting that the current arrangement in which such cases are heard alongside other matters are not conducive to the victims.
He also cited Masii area in Mwala Sub County as among the leading places in sexual abuse cases most of which involve close members of the family.
“Our records at Machakos court indicate that most sexual abuse cases emanate from Masii area. Sadly, most perpetrators are close relatives including parents who are left to take care of the children but end up sexually abusing them,” Shikanda said.
Others who attended the function included Machakos County Children Officer Salome Muthama, her deputy Emily Kimanzi alongside Principal Magistrate Carol Ocharo and Resident Magistrate Catherine Kisiangani.
The Day of African Child is a commemoration in honour of hundreds of black students killed in Soweto, South Africa in1976 during the clamour by Africans to have a quality education.
This year’s theme is ‘’Leave No Child Behind for Africa’s Development and builds on the momentum of last year’s theme which was “The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development for Children in Africa: Accelerating Protection, Empowerment and Equal Opportunity.”