Man held over kidnap, defilement

May 19, 2010

THE Police are holding a 36-year-old man for allegedly kidnapping, defiling and impregnating a 12-year-old girl.

By Madinah Tebajjukira

THE Police are holding a 36-year-old man for allegedly kidnapping, defiling and impregnating a 12-year-old girl.

Muhammed Ndibogoza, a resident of Rubaga, a city suburb, was arrested on Tuesday after the girl’s elder brother, Swaibu Kajabwangu, took her to the Police to report a case of child neglect. It was reported that the girl and Ndibogoza have a 16-month-old child.

The girl narrated that Ndibogoza, an employee of Nalia Bus Company, kidnapped her three years ago and took her to Pallisa, where she lived as his wife.

The girl, a Primary Seven dropout, said at the time she was kidnapped, she was 12 years old.

According Catherine Nandi, the head of the child and family protection unit at Kampala Central Police Station, Ndibogoza would be charged with defilement, kidnap and torture, since the girl had wounds all over her body.

Nandi added that the girl would undergo a medical examination.
“If she is HIV-positive, then Ndibogoza would be charged with aggravated defilement which fetches a death penalty on conviction,” she said.

Ndibogoza said the girl’s parents “offered her as a gift in appreciation of paying her father’s hospital bills.”

Ndibogoza, whom the Police said had recorded several contradicting statements, also said the girl was 19 years old.

“We are going to get the parents to record their version. If the girl was given to the man as a wife, then they have a case to answer,” Nandi said.

According to the girl, Ndibogoza kidnapped her in 2007 from Mulago Hospital where she was attending to her sick father. She was in her Primary Seven vacation.

He took her to Gogonyo in Pallisa district and locked her in his house. The accused had just separated from the girl’s sister, with whom he had two children.

Ndibogoza is said to have been locking the girl in the house to conceal her from his neighbours. She was forced to use a bucket as a toilet.

In 2008, Ndibogoza relocated the girl to Bweyogerere to operate a shop. A year later, he took her to Rubaga.

The girl said Ndibogoza often beat her for not taking care of the children he fathered with her sister.

“This forced her to escape to her parents’ home in Mukono district,” Nandi said.

The Police are investigating why the girl’s parents reported her disappearance at Rubaga Police post where Ndibogoza is a resident instead of Mukono or Mulago.

“It is possible the parents connived with Ndibogoza,” she added.

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