AfricaTopSuccess They make Africa
Ten male prisoners have been found guilty of raping dozens of female inmates during a violent riot at an overcrowded jail in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Thirty-seven women and a teenage girl testified that they were repeatedly raped during a three-day riot at Kasapa Central Prison near Lubumbashi in 2020.
Some female detainees became pregnant and contracted sexually transmitted infections, including HIV.
The 10 men were fined and ordered to serve 15 additional years in jail.
Melanie Mumba, a lawyer for the victims is satisfied with the verdict.
“We are satisfied with the verdict, after a long struggle to gain justice,” she told AFP.
The run-down prison facility was taken over by a group of male inmates who set the women’s section of the prison on fire with female detainees for several days in September 2020.
Some 20 inmates and a prison guard were reportedly killed during the violence before security forces regained control.
