Central African Republic: His uncontrollable virility led him to rape a 19-year-old patient; he received a 13-year sentence of hard labor.

A medical uniform gives no right over a patient's body. Yet, some seem to forget this. In the Central African Republic, a health assistant, tasked with providing care to a 19-year-old patient, was unable to control his dominant, stallion-like impulses.

This sexual predator allegedly took advantage of the young woman's vulnerability by injecting her with a sleeping pill before abusing her while she was unconscious.

Upon waking, the young woman noticed suspicious marks. Faced with this situation, she alerted her parents and the staff at the health center. This is when legal proceedings were initiated.

More than two years after this heinous act which tramples on human dignity, Alain Adoum, who worked at the Grâce-à-Dieu health center in Gobongo, in the 4th district of Bangui, was sentenced this Thursday, October 22, to 13 years of forced labor by the Criminal Court.

The sentence handed down exceeds the 10 years requested by the public prosecutor's office, illustrating the severity of the judicial decision in light of the facts examined.

In addition to this conviction, the person concerned was required to pay a symbolic one franc to the Association of Women Jurists of Central Africa (AFJC), which had joined the case as a civil party.

This conviction is seen as a strong signal sent by the Criminal Court against sexual violence committed in hospital settings, a phenomenon still largely under-documented in the Central African Republic.

Cheick Omar Ouedraogo