Cape Town - Rwandan authorities have arrested and taken to court a 24-year-old woman over ‘indecent’ dressing, The East African reported on Friday.
Liliane Mugabekazi was arrested on August 7 after she attended a concert by popular French musician Tayc eight days earlier, wearing a sheer dress, Channels Television reported.
“She attended the concert while wearing clothes that reveal her private parts… clothes that we call shameful,” prosecutors said, accusing her of committing a “serious crime”.
If convicted, the woman faces six months to two years in prison.
On Thursday, a judge at Kigali-based Kicukiro Primary Court declined to grant her bail, with the prosecution requesting that she be detained for 30 days as the investigation continues, the East African reports.
“She is suspected to have committed public indecency,” the spokesperson for the prosecution, Faustin Nkusi, told AFP.
In recent years many Rwandan women have suffered under the country’s strict indecency laws.
In March, police arrested a 20-year-old woman for “public drunkenness and indecent assault” after a video of her lying on the ground in an alcoholic stupor circulated on social media, according to the Malawi Voice.
History of violence and discrimination against women
During the 1994 genocide, Rwandan women were subjected to sexual violence on a massive scale, perpetrated by members of the infamous Hutu militia groups.
Despite massive strides made over the last 20 years to protect and uphold women’s rights in Rwanda, the country still has a long way to go.
IOL