A sexual assault centre, Ntasi Centre for Sexual Assault at the Enugu Ukwu General Hospital in Anambra State says within a span of 12 months, it logged in no fewer than 107 sexual assault cases.
Rev. Sister Benedette Uchendu who is the centre’s manager said the cases were recorded between September 17, 2019 and August this year in a report by NAN.
According to her, the centre was inaugurated to help address incidents of sexual assaults in the state.
She explained that the referral facility was one of the five centres established by ROLAC in across the country.
“We offer free medical, counseling and legal services to all victims that come to our centre.
“We focus on ensuring that women and children have access to justice in the face of sexual molestations.
“But I can tell you that the cases we have treated here so far have been pathetic,” she stated
The centre manager said it recently received a case of a four year old girl, who was molested by 60-year-old man, and also a case where five boys were raped by a man.
Uchendu noted that the centre recently recommended a molested four year old child, who had her urinary organ damaged to a specialist for treatment.
“The child was given drugs but needed further treatment to repair her urinary organ, but the centre could not afford the cost of such treatment.
“Most of the victims are poor while the perpetrators take advantage of them, believing that no one could speak for them.
“The perpetrators even threaten their lives if they complained to us,” she noted.
However, she urged the state Government to provide more funding and shelter for the centre to take care of the needs of victims that visit the facility.
Uchendu further called on donors, who promised to assist in the treatment of some of the victims, especially Women Aid Collective, (WACOL) an NGO that visited the centre to fulfill their promises.
She urged all mothers and guardians to keep their eyes on their children, and never leave them in the hands of strangers or those they did not trust.
She commended the state government for partnering with the European Union (EU) through the Rule of Law and Anti Corruption (ROLAC) in establishing the referral centre. (NAN)
