The story of Egide and Fabrice

Egide, 15, Fabrice, 14, were accused of the rape of a 4-year-old girl. The mother of this child had found her with a tear in her crotch. Convinced her daughter had been raped she was easily able to influence enquiries and turn these two boys into criminals.

Concerned by the fact that the two were young children, Terre des hommes quickly took charge. The social workers appointed lawyers who helped ensure that all legal and judicial procedures were complied with. They reconstructed the story, obtained witness statements, medical tests and expert reports: in fact the little girl only had an infection owing to using a plant as toilet paper.

After one year in prison the boys were acquitted and reunited with their families. When Fabrice’s grandmother remembers this moment, she laughs and claps her hands, her eyes full of tears. However, the children had more or less passed the time in which they could have continued their normal education. And before Tdh intervened, the two families had already spent their savings in legal costs. Thus the work of Tdh is not yet finished: the children will be monitored in their social and professional reintegration. «And there are plenty of children in prison,» Egide reminds us.