48 Percent Defilement Cases Reported at Mukono Police Division in 2020 Did'nt Reach Court

About 48 percent of the defilement cases recorded by Mukono police division in 2020 didn’t make it to court. According to the 2020 annual crime police report released on Monday, Mukono police division registered 193 defilement cases. 

However, only 100  of the 193 cases reported made it to court for prosecution. Records from Mukono Resident State Attorney’s Office show that most of the files of defilement cases returned to police for re-arrangement didn’t return for sanctioning. 

  

Fred Oyaka, the Head of the Mukono Divisional Crime Intelligence Department could not respond about the matter but promised to look into it. The crime report attributes the increasing defilement cases to some cultural practices, which encourage marrying off young girls.

Some of the girls were defiled while performing domestic chores. Hassan Bulesa, a resident of Mukono central division, says that quite often police takes on the role of resolving defilement cases.

He notes that this gives the suspects a chance of committing because they are sure of escaping justice. “Only a few cases are taken to courts of laws…. especially when it comes to cases involving the relatives of the victims,” he said.

However, Jamiiru Yiga, a resident of Kyampisi sub-county of Mukono, says the number of defilement cases captured in the police report is far less compared to what is on the ground. He says that many cases are resolved before they enter into police records.

//Cue in: “Babikuuma nga byakyama…  

Cue out: …etali mumateeka,”//



James Ntege, the Mukono District Probation Officer appeals to the community to always follow up of the cases, they report to police or any related office. He notes that sometimes they find it hard to gather the evidence due to lack of follow-up by the victims or complainants.

Section 129 of the Penal Code Act, Chapter XIV provides that any person who unlawfully has sexual intercourse with a girl under the age of eighteen years commits an offence and is liable to suffer death.