I was pregnant. I had a miscarriage. The judge accused me of murder.
They thought I was guilty, but it was an accident.
The day my daughter was born, my freedom was taken away.
Abortion is when you do something to end the pregnancy.
I hadn’t decided to do that, I was almost nine months pregnant.
I was pregnant.
I had a fall the day before but I didn't think it was serious
because I didn't feel any pain at the time.
I started feeling a pain in my back and suddenly
I felt liquid going down my legs.
I felt the need to go to the toilet.
I felt so much pain.
It was my daughter – she had fallen into the septic tank.
I fainted in the bathroom and lost consciousness.
I was found on the floor covered in blood.
When I woke up I was in hospital.
One of my hands was handcuffed to the bed.
At around 6pm the police arrived and told me I was under arrest for abortion.
They didn't read or explain my rights to me.
I never saw a lawyer during my detention.
The doctor called the police because
they always say it's their duty to call the police when a woman arrives in that state
because they don't know what someone has done and why.
The doctors treated me like an animal, not a human being.
The doctors' treatment of me was awful, especially when they performed the scraping.
I was in hospital for four days and then they took me to the police station cell.
I never went back home.
I spent six days in the cell, sleeping on the bare floor.
I was taken to court.
That's where I met the duty lawyer.
My lawyer told me to say I didn't want to be in the hearing.
I wasn't present to defend myself.
It was an injustice that I wasn't allowed to speak at the hearing.
They told me that my crime was no longer abortion but murder.
They said I had strangled my baby
and that crime was penalised with 30 to 50 years in prison.
Depending on your crime, inmates can treat you badly because they tell you
that not even the bitchiest bitches kill their puppies
and that I was going to be killed as I had killed my baby.
An imprisoned person does not exist within society.
I got out on 9 June at 6pm.
I felt such joy at getting out, but at the same it was frightening.
After seven years and three months of not seeing the buses and streets, it was a shock.
Life is hard but it is harder when you get out [of prison]
because you've lost everything
and have to start again.
I was traumatised and for a while.
I couldn't see a policeman without thinking they were coming to get me.
With a 30-year sentence I hoped I would be out in 10 years.
And I got out in fewer than 10 years – it was seven years and five months.
Justice needs to change.
The only thing they do is give sentences for 30 or 50 years,
sending you to prison with no investigation whatsoever.
I don't blame anyone but we need to see the laws change in this country.
The person who accused me lied and said I had given birth normally, and I had thrown [the baby] away.
And the authorities believed her.
All the bad things that have happened to me,
those are the things I leave behind.
I wouldn't wish prison on anybody because it is horrible here.
I felt bad for losing the baby
but I can't feel anything any more.
I've been in this place for so long.
I have hope for my future.
I trust that one day I will be able to leave this place.