'He put me at gunpoint and raped me'

Police in Jinja district are holding a man said to have held a 16-year-old girl at gunpoint and later raped her several times.

She was with a male friend at the time, the victim later told police.

The suspect, believed to be in his late 20s, was identified as Christopher Bbosa, a resident of Danida in Walukuba/Masese division where the incident reportedly happened.

District police commander Felix Mugizi said the claimed episode occured at around 6.30pm Sunday.

The teenage victim said she and her colleague were walking from Masese Primary School when they met Bbosa standing by a tree.

He called them over.

She said he was dressed in army fatigue and gumboots and held a firearm. He immediately put the two at gunpoint and motioned them towards a nearby bush.

"He told my [male] friend to undress, which he did, and told me to follow suit. He kept us at gunpoint and ordered that I and my friend have sex together. My friend refused.

"The man slapped my friend and warned that if he dared shout, he would shoot him. Then he [suspect] undressed and forcefully had sex with me," she said at the police clinic where she was admitted for medical tests after the said ordeal.

She went on to tell of how the armed man forced them to walk to a nearby quarry where he raped her again twice. During that moment, her friend managed to escape.

He rushed to police to report the matter, before the suspect was tracked and soon arrested.

Investigations into the case are under way as Bbosa faces several charges including defilement and illegal possession of government property.

Eric Saakwa, the deputy RDC, claimed Bbosa was a criminal wanted by security in the area.  He added that the suspect is also a member of a wanted criminal gang headed by a one Bafana.