Maid who tortured baby released

Aug 25, 2017

Clad in a floral dress with a blue collar and black shoes, Tumuhiirwe held a black bag and bid farewell to prisoners

 Jolly Tumuhiirwe at Luzira prison. Photo by Petride Mudoola. 


Jolly Tumuhiirwe 22, the maid who admitted to torturing toddler after a video showing her torturing the child went viral has been discharged from Luzira Women's Prison having completed her four-year jail term.


Clad in a floral dress with a blue collar and black shoes, Tumuhiirwe held a black bag and bid farewell to prisoners as she was led to the office of the officer in charge of Luzira Women's Prison, Stella Nabunya who was waiting to formally discharge her.

She was advised to   avoid committing crimes that would lead her to prison again before she was handed her discharge forms.

Asked why Tumuhiirwe was discharged this early yet the public assumes she has just started her four-year jail term, Frank Baine the prison publicist responded: "She was meant to be discharged in 2018 if her sentence did not have remission, but if subjected to remission her earliest date of possible discharge is August, 25, 2017 which is today."

Remission is the reduction of the term of a prison sentence, usually due to good behaviour or conduct. If you have been imprisoned and part of your sentence is remitted, this means that you do not have to remain in prison for the full period of your sentence.

"Implying that a person sentenced to four years' incarceration will be expected to serve three years in custody. However, part of this remission may be cancelled as punishment. Whether or not you get remission depends on your good behaviour while you are in prison," Baine explained.

The Prison's Act of 2006 section 84(1) stipulates that convicted prisoners sentenced to imprisonment whether by one sentence or consecutive sentences for a period exceeding one month, may by industry and good conduct earn a remission of one third of her sentence or sentences.

In 2014, Tumuhiirwe was jailed for four years for abusing a toddler in a case that shocked the country.

On December 2014, Tumuhiirwe was charged in court with the torture of an 18-month-old baby following a video clip of the assault which caused outrage after it was posted online.

While delivering her judgment, the Chief Magistrate Lillian Buchan told Tumuhiirwe that she had committed an "unjustifiable and inexcusable" crime.

Buchan gave her a four-year sentence due to the "ruthlessness exhibited" on an "innocent, helpless child."

This came after the child's parents who installed a hidden camera to film the situation while they were at work were shocked to see the footage showing the maid torturing their child.

In the "spine- chilling" and "very disturbing" footage, Tumuhiirwe was seen trying to force-fully feed the child while slapping her hard. She then kicked her face and stomach and sat on her back. She then dragged her out of the room, seemingly unconscious.

After capturing the violence on film, the girl's father Eric Kamanzi reported the incident to police leading to her arrest and subsequent prosecution.

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