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Two opposition MPs in Senegal have been given six-month jail sentences for kicking a pregnant colleague in the stomach during a budget debate.<\/p>\n
The male lawmakers attacked Amy Ndiaye after she criticized an opposition religious figure.<\/p>\n
The judge also ordered Mamadou Niang and Massata Samb to pay Ms Ndiaye five million CFA francs ($8,100; \u00a36,750) in compensation.<\/p>\n
The incident was widely condemned and sparked a debate about women’s rights.<\/p>\n
In a video widely shared online, Mr Samb is seen walking towards Ms Ndiaye and slapping her during a routine budget debate on 1 December. She then retaliates by throwing a chair, but at the same time gets kicked in her belly by another male colleague. A melee then breaks out as other MPs try to calm the situation.<\/p>\n
Ms Ndiaye, a member of the ruling Benno Bokk Yakaar coalition, fainted in parliament after the attack and there were fears that she would lose the baby.<\/p>\n
Despite leaving the hospital she “remains in an extremely difficult situation,” her lawyer Baboucar Ciss\u00e9 told news agency AFP.<\/p>\n
Despite the video evidence, lawyers for Mr Niang and Mr Samb argued in court that their clients had not physically attacked Ms Ndiaye.<\/p>\n
They also argued unsuccessfully that the two lawmakers were immune to prosecution.<\/p>\n
“They are going to remain in prison pending an appeal,” one of their lawyers, Abdy Nar Ndiaye, told AFP.<\/p>\n
There has been tension in Senegal’s parliament since the government lost its majority in legislative elections in July last year.<\/p>\n
Source: BBC<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Featured Video\n<\/p>\n\n
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