Police arrest Rufiji man who impregnated own daughter

Coast. Police in Tanzania's Coast region are holding a man for interrogations over allegations of taking his biological daughter and turning her into his second wife, consequently impregnating her.

Tanzania’s Penal Code provides that a male person, convicted of incest could be liable to a jail term of up to 30 years depending on the age of the female person involved in the act.

Section 158 (1) of the Penal Code says any male person who has prohibited sexual intercourse with a female person, who is to his knowledge his granddaughter, daughter, sister or mother, commits the offence of incest.

Upon conviction, such a person is liable to an imprisonment for a term of not less than 30 years if the female [involved in the act] is of the age of less than 18 years, or a sentence of not less than 20 years if the female is of the age of 18 years or more.

The Regional Police Commander for Rufiji, Mr confirmed the arrest, saying the accused will be arraigned upon completion of the ongoing investigation.

“I sent detectives to investigate the matter, and we arrested the father, his daughter, and the mother for interrogation, and today, Thursday, October 18, he will be arraigned,” he said.

The Citizen’s sister paper, Mwananchi had been investigating the incest allegations for the man for some time now and when the reporter visited his compound, he said he hated a tendency of interfering in his family affairs and blamed his neighbours, accusing them of spreading ‘lies’ about his family.

“What were they up to when they informed you about my family matters? Where did you get my contact details? Don’t you have any other job to do other than asking me foolish questions?” he queried in an angry tone via phone.

Mwananchi was informed that the man in question has six children who include four males and two females. All the six have never gone to any school.

One of the male children in the family told Mwananchi that none of them had been to school because their father hates to hear anything about schooling.

He said his elder sister has been married but she still lived at their father’s home and nobody knew where her husband lives.

One of the neighbours (name withheld) said three young men proposed marriage, but all of them were rejected with the explanation that the girl was already married.

"After the first young man was rejected, they discussed and told another young man to make a marriage proposal and he agreed, but surprisingly, the girl's father refused, saying he wouldn't allow the marriage to happen," he claimed.

"The father wanted to marry off his second daughter to his brother born of the same mother. However, his brother refused to marry her. So, they had to find another young man, who married her," another neighbour claimed.

The neighbour said that the accused father had been preventing his daughters from interacting with the surrounding community, fearing they would be fed with rumours that could harm family harmony.

When contacted by The Citizen, Commander Mutayoba stated that such incidents were reported to the police station and they would launch an investigation into the matter to find the truth.

"If we confirm the truth of the incident, we will look at what the law says to prevent such incidents from occurring in the society. Once we prove it, we will take him to the court," he said.

 Social Work commissioner Nadera Mhando at the ministry of Community Development, Gender and Children, said the accusation affected both parties involved and if proven guilty, the suspect would be arraigned.