The family is rent: Kenia's parents were forced to sell their rice field and move to Diego-Suarez in the north for Kenia's treatment. Most of their other children remained behind, in the care of elder siblings. Kenia, now 13, is temporarily in Antanarivo, where a doctor is trying to treat her with a specialized diet.
A surgeon who examined her recently said a full recovery is unlikely. The uncertainty preys on Kenia, her mother said. "Sometimes she tells me, 'My body is hurting. I have so many problems. I don't go to school. I just feel this sickness all around me,' " she said.
The family's legal efforts have met even less success. Kenia's father lodged a complaint with the cash-strapped police, but the officers had no car; he hired a taxi so they could pick up Betombo for questioning. Frightened and sobbing, Kenia confronted her uncle at the chaotic station. Betombo and his wife denied Kenia's account. But ultimately — after the police beat him, Betombo said — he signed a confession, was arrested and was carted off to the prosecutor's office in nearby Antalaha.
Kenia's father said that a few days later friends told him that Justin Betombo was "free and happy" back in his village.
Betombo said he had convinced the prosecutor that his confession was false. Kenia's parents say they were never summoned to contradict him.
"I took this girl in as my daughter," Betombo said. "I really can't understand why they say that I could have done such an awful thing to her. I think they were jealous of me and they wanted to ruin my life."
Sambava's police department again sent the file to the prosecutor's office months later. But Sophie Ramahakaraha, the prosecutor in charge, now says that she has no record or memory of it.
Real instances of child rape are rare, she said. "Very often the parents are poor and they use this procedure to get money," she said.
But to Daul Randriamalaza, a Sambava police inspector, there is no question about who was the victim here.
"I don't want to talk about corruption here, but that is what could have happened in this case," he said as a clutch of prisoners peered out between the bars of the station's tiny cell.
"I have children myself. How can I be happy about this?"
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