Anger reigns as the horrifying agony of abducted University student revealed
March 24, 2025
The story of Bertukan Temesgen trending among Ethiopian social media users as government in Ethiopia orders removal of the video
Toronto – The fate of over 17 Dembi Dollo University and other university students who were reportedly abducted towards the end of 2019 remained a mystery to date, except Bertukan Temesgen.
She was interviewed by EBS TV. What she endured during the time under her captors was shocking to hear. Not just she was regularly raped by six or more kidnappers but also she was physically abused in a barbaric way including with insertion of metals to her sex organ, based on what she told to EBS.
She also has a child from the incidents of rape. She doesn’t know who the child is.
As anger spread fast, the Ethiopian government reportedly ordered the removal of the interview video from YouTube. Yet the story has been trending on social media among Ethiopians who are seeking an answer for it.
Borkena was not able to watch the video. However, based on sources on social media it is indicated that Bertukan was a student in the department of pharmacy at Demi Dollo University.
The University took no time to issue a statement after the video was removed.
The university also said that it is an act of defamation and threatened to take the matter to court unless EBS “reversed the accusation.” It is indicated in other sources that Bertukan Temesgen did not mention that she was a student of Dembi Dollo. Activists on social media questioned why Dembi Dollo University came forward so fast to make claims she was referring to the University when that was not the case.On 14/7/2017 [Ethiopian calendar] in an interview on EBS, the view in which Bertukan Temesgen Kebede said she was a second year pharmacy student at Dembi Dollo University in 2013 academic year is wrong. The university did not have a second year pharmacy student in 2013. Therefore, the act is irresponsible with no evidence…
The students were on their way to the Amhara region from Demi Dollo when they were abducted in the Oromia region of Ethiopia. Weeks after the incident the Ethiopian government announced that it had formed a task force under the leadership of Demeke Mekonen who was deputy minister at the time.
However, the matter remained unknown to the public until very recently. What was known was that the militant group operating in the region – Oromo Liberation Army (OLA) – was behind the kidnapping. But that was turned upside down when Defense Chief of Staff, Field Marshal Berhanu Jula, came up with a new story during an interview with a pro-government media outlet, Lualawi media, in October 2024. He claimed that the National Movement of Amhara (NaMA) was behind the attack and the second senior OLA commander operating in Dembi Dollo with the name Jal Chala was in fact “Ashenafi Gonderew.” He added that the abducted students are in Bahir Dar but he does not have any further information (The story is available here https://borkena.com/2024/10/05/berhanu- ... i-gondere/) Even more astonishing is that Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s government https://borkena.com/2020/01/27/ethiopia ... -students/ claimed, in early 2020, that the release of students was secured as pressure from the public and civic organizations, including from Ethiopian Women Lawyers Association, https://borkena.com/2020/05/21/ethiopia ... -students/ mounted.
To date, what exactly happened to the rest of the abducted students and where they are is unknown.
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She was kidnapped, tortured, and raped. She was left for dead, simply because she is Amhara.
Birtukan Temesgen Kebede survived the unthinkable, only to be silenced by the Ethiopian government. The journalist who told her story has been arrested, and the media was forced to delete the interview.
Why is the world silent? Where are the human rights organizations? Where are the women's rights advocates?
Being Amhara is not a crime. If you ignore this, you are complicit!
