The police has arrested a young man and his mother following repeatedly rape of two of his young cousins, leading to the death of one of the girls in Freetown, Sierra Leone.
The victims, 5-year-old Kadijah M. Saccoh and her sister were living with their aunt when the son started raping the two girls.
The father, Congolese Saccoh, living in the U.S. had wanted to take Kadijah with him but was restricted by a Judge as the mother was not in support.
Kadijah and her sister remained with their aunt, who is the elder sister of Kadijah’s mum.
Reports claim that when the aunt found out her son had raped Kadijah’s sister, she hid it from the children’s parents and treated the girl herself.
Her son then raped Kadijah and she hid that too and tried treating the girl. Unfortunately, Kadijah died and the aunt tried to bury her hurriedly.
According to reports, the aunt informed Kadijah’s father’s family about the death of the girl after which she asked for permission to bury the child, but the father insisted that he wanted to know the cause of the death.
The father urged his family to take the corpse for a postmortem.
The postmortem result showed that the girl was raped multiple times.
The father then asked that his older daughter be taken for a test too and it showed that she had been raped too.
The aunt and her son have both been arrested and people are seeking justice for Kadijah with the hashtags #JusticeForKadijahSaccoh and #JusticeForKadijah.
On Monday, June 22, celebrities in the country took to the streets to demand justice for the victim and her sister. Women also took to the streets, clad in black, to demand justice.
Demanding justice, Women in the Media Sierra Leone wrote in a press release: “As a female media organization we are deeply saddened and we therefore condemn this act.
We are calling on all authorities concerned to speedily launch an investigation into the matter and ensure the perpetrator(s) is brought to justice.
