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Tanzania police arrest pregnant schoolgirls

Monday January 08 2018
teen mum

A report by Human Rights Watch says about 8,000 Tanzanian girls drop out of school every year due to pregnancy. PHOTO | AFP

By THE CITIZEN

Five pregnant schoolgirls together with their parents were arrested and then released on bail over the weekend in Tandahimba, southern Tanzania.

The arrest came following an order by District Commissioner Sebastian Waryuba in a crackdown to end teenage pregnancies in the region.

According to the District Administrative Secretary Mr Mohamed Azizi, authorities are still looking for the men who impregnated the girls who disappeared shortly after a directive was issued.

“We have managed to arrest the girls and their parents but unfortunately those who impregnated the girls have escaped and we are looking for them,” Mr Azizi told The Citizen.

Adolescent pregnancies in the region have been on the rise.

Gender and Human Rights activists have decried the directive arguing that the authorities should arrest the culprits rather than the victims.

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In June last year, East Africans and women's rights groups condemned Tanzanian President John Magufuli's comments that schoolgirls who give birth should not be allowed back to school.

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