Prosecution seeks two years for girl who hacked teacher

Prosecution is asking for a two-year jail term and a fine of Rwf 100,000 for a Collège Saint André student (names withheld because she is a minor) who was charged with aggravated assault and battery. The 17-year-old is alleged to have hacked her chemistry teacher Jean-Baptiste Gasoma, with a machete in August 2015, leaving a deep cut on the right side of his head. The girl appeared in court mid this month at the Nyarugenge Intermediate Court. The trial, that was conducted in camera in the chamber of minors, also sought to determine the motive behind the incident, according to the National Public Prosecution Authority spokesperson, Faustin Nkusi. Nkusi says they looked at various factors like psychological instability as a result of a difficult upbringing but at the surface of it, everything seemed to point to pre-assault. “She was detained at Nyamirambo Police Post before appearing in court where she was charged with aggravated assault and battery. The defence failed to prove beyond reasonable doubt that she didn’t act with intent, that’s why we asked for two years and a fine of Rwf100,000, according to article 148 of the Penal Code,” said Nkusi. Nkusi said information indicated that the girl had a difficult upbringing. She was raised by a single mother who was abandoned by her father but that wasn’t reason enough to put her psychological state in a situation where she should cause gross bodily harm. Looking at the situation, it looks like pre-meditated murder because the girl had time to carry the machete to school, it wasn’t a snap decision, he said. However, Nkusi added that she might get a lenient sentence as a minor but the decision is entirely up to the judge. The defence argued that the teacher had solicited for sex from the girl which prompted her to act aggressively. But prosecution countered this, saying there was no evidence and it wasn’t about marks as alleged. “When we asked the teacher, Jean-Baptiste Gasoma, he had no idea why the girl acted the way she did. However, she was released on bail until the final hearing on January 29 although she is not back in school yet,” Nkusi said. If she is convicted, the girl will serve her jail-term at Nyarugenge Prison in the juvenile detention centre reserved for female minors. However, the girl’s lawyers wonder why the teacher was never imprisoned. Epiphanie Karangwayire, one of the girl’s lead lawyers, claims the teacher provoked the girl. “This is a girl with a difficult background who acted in self defence. The teacher gave her an examination paper that she had failed to fill in her own marks but that would be in exchange of sex. The teacher had made numerous comments about her beauty which led the girl to be suspicious of his intentions,” she said. Karangwayire added that after the teacher gave her the paper, he told her to meet him in a former laboratory turned store the next day when returning the paper. The girl decided to carry a machete for self-defence just in case she is attacked by the teacher. “When the girl got there that morning, the teacher began making lewd remarks about her body and trying to sexually molest her. The girl told him that she would hurt him but the teacher rubbed it off as a joke, saying she was too young to cause any harm. When the teacher started touching her body and running his hands through her hair, she reached for her bag, got out the machete and hit him on the right side of his head,” she told The New Times. Karangwayire says this clearly shows that the girl acted in self-defence. When asked if the girl underwent counselling, Karangwayire says she didn’t think so. She also said the girl is currently at home waiting for the outcome of the trial. “She is at home because she couldn’t go back to the same school and is also waiting for the final verdict from the case. The final ruling will determine whether she will go to jail or not. However, we might appeal the court’s decision basing on the verdict,” she said. editorial@newtimes.co.rw

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Prosecution seeks two years for girl who hacked teacher