Five pregnant schoolgirls in Tanzania have been arrested by officials who have said that this will help them capture the men you got them pregnant.
The government of Tanzania this month carried out its threat of preventing pregnant schoolgirls from attending public schools by arresting the five pregnant teenagers and their parents.
According to local media The Citizen news site the teenagers were arrested in Tandahimba, northern Tanzania. The arrests were ordered by a local district commissioner and the girls and their parents were later released on bail.
The Tandahimba District Commissioner Sebastian Waryuba said on Monday that the schoolgirls will be questioned by the police.
Child rights activists have wondered why the authorities arrested the men who impregnated the girls rather than the victims.
Local media has reported that local authorities launched a search for the men who impregnated the girls and hoped questioning the school girls will help in arresting those who impregnated them.
Tanzanian President John Magufuli last year rejected activists’ calls for the government to allow pregnant students to attend state schools, saying it was immoral for young girls to be sexually active.
Tanzania’s ban on pregnant girls attending state primary and secondary schools dates back to 1961, when the country secured its independence from Britain, though it does not extend to private schools.
The East African nation jails those who impregnate schoolgirls to at least 30 years in prison. This is to discourage early marriages and teenage pregnancies that lead to school dropouts.
Source: Africafeeds.com
