By Enyichukwu Enemanna
Tanzania’s national police force has announced the removal of a female police commander, Theopista Mallya who allegedly linked a victim of gang rape to sex work in order to mitigate the backlash she has faced.
Earlier in the month a viral video which showed a young woman being assaulted by five men in the East African country attracted public outcry.
On Sunday however, the police commander in the capital, Dodoma, was quoted in a Tanzanian newspaper as saying the “woman in question appeared to be engaged in sex work”.
In response, the police tendered an apology and equally removed her.
“The police force would like to apologise to everyone who was touched and offended by the statement circulating in the media while monitoring is being done to find its accuracy,” national police spokesperson David Misime said on Monday.
The police spokesperson however said the Dodoma Regional Commander, Mallya was misquoted by the newspaper.
According to him, the commander had said even if the gang rape victim was a sex worker, “she did not deserve to be treated that way”.
In response to the newspaper report, lawyer Peter Madeleka said on social media platform X that the comment attributed to the police commander were “proof of police cruelty to women’s rights”.
Fatma Karume, a lawyer and prominent activist, also expressed outrage on X, writing: “Those who sell themselves can not be raped in this country?”
The commander is now transferred to the police headquarters, though it is not clear whether this is temporary or permanent.
The suspects in the alleged gang rape have been arrested and will be prosecuted.
