CASE N° RPA 0041/08/CS
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THE SUPREME COURT SITTING IN KIGALI HEARING CRIMINAL CASES,
PUBLICLY DECIDES ON CASE N° RPA 0041/08/CS ON 25/02/2011 AS FOLLOWS:
PARTIES:
PUBLIC PROSECUTION
Versus
Ngendabanga, son of Uzakunda Appolinaire and Nyandwi Bernadette, born in
Murambi, Rususa-Nyaruguru Sector in 1982, bachelor, farmer, first time offender
OFFENCE
Having on the evening of 20/07/2002, in Rususa, Nyaruguru District, Gikongoro
Province at the time, raped an 11-year-old girl named Uwamariya, a felony punishable
under Article 34 of Law No. 27 / 2001 of 28/04/2001.
I.
FACTS AND PROCEDURE
1. On the evening of 20/07/2002 at around 6:30 pm, Niyirora Francine, the mother
of Uwamariya, sent her to pick up the firewood in the coffee plantation. She went
together with Ngendabanga who had come to borrow a bag. Uwamariya returned
home around 7 a.m. crying and told her mother that Ngendabanga had raped her.
The mother looked at the child's skirt and saw the semen, and hurried to tell
Ngendabanga's father about his son's actions, and the latter replied that he did not
ask him to do so. The crime was reported to the police. A medical report dated
23/07/2002 reveals that the girl had had sex, that her hymen was not still intact.
Both in the Judicial Police, in the Prosecution, and in Court (Chambre du Conseil),
Ngendabanga pleaded guilty but said the girl consented to it.
2. In the judgment RP 694/5/03 passed on 06/11/2003 where Ngendabanga denied
that he had ever met the girl, the Court of First Instance convicted him on the basis
of his earlier confession, the statement of the girl’s mother whom Ngendabanga
did not accuse of any bias against him, and a medical report explaining that
Uwamariya had been sexually abused, and sentenced him to life imprisonment
and a fine of 50,000 frw.