11-year-old kidnapped, defiled and infected

CRIME | HIV/AIDS 

IBANDA- Saturday, June 22, 2019 started off like any other day for Mr Lawrence's household (name withheld) of Ibanda municipality.

On that day, his 11-year-old daughter, Lil, woke up early, as usual, to prepare for weekend classes. She was in Primary Three at a school in Ibanda Municipality.

When she stepped out of the house, she found a bodaboda cyclist waiting outside her home.

A woman she knew well called her and quickly bundled her onto the bodaboda, which took her to a waiting vehicle a short distance away.

She was driven to places unknown to her.

About two hours later, Lil's family discovered she had not reached school and was nowhere to be seen.

That was the beginning of a torturous one year, where the family spent millions searching for her in different parts of the country.

When she was finally discovered, it was not a jolly family reunion. Lil, was not the usual bubbly girl. She was broken and very ill.

According to her father, she is still alive by God's grace.

Father narrates

"When I woke up after Lil had left the house, I found her schoolbag and packed lunch where we had left them the previous night.

I informed her mother about it and we searched for her around our homestead in vain," Lawrence said.

"I then rushed to her school, but I was told she had not arrived yet, and I returned home. Together with a few neighbours, we mounted a search across our village and neighbouring areas.

This effort and inquiries from relatives did not yield any results. So, I reported her disappearance to the LC1 chairman, who told me to wait a few days before I could report the matter to the Police.

Four days later, on June 25, the LC1 chairman gave me a letter which I took to Police to report my daughter's disappearance.

The Police gave me a document to introduce me to different people during the search."

Search intensifies

Between June 2019 and February this year, Lawrence traversed Mubende, Kyegegwa, Ntungamo, Buhweju and Mbarara districts looking for Lil.

He also searched among relatives in Kasese, Kamwenge, Kayinja, Kashongi, Kiruhura and Kampala in vain.

"I only stopped looking for my daughter when the Government stopped people's movement following the outbreak of COVID-19 in March," Lawrence says.

By this time, the family had sold all its two cows, 17 turkeys, 11 rabbits, one pig and an acre of land to raise money to search for Lil.

Lawrence had spent sh6.2m on the search.

Dumped at Mbarara Taxi Park

As Lawrence was pondering where next to search for his daughter, he was informed about her whereabouts.

"On June 14, this year, my brother came running and told me Lil had been found in Mbarara. Shortly after, an unknown woman called, saying I should rush to Mbarara Taxi Park to pick Lil as she was very sick and could not travel by herself."

We had to look for sh40,000 to transport the frail girl from Mbarara to Ibanda.

The family also contributed another sh60,000 to take her to Ibanda Hospital, where she spent three weeks bedridden. Her treatment and rehabilitation is still going on.

Seeing Lil again brought great joy to the family.

Who actually kidnapped Lil?

Ironically, Lil was abducted by people she trusted and respected.

One Tibategyeza, a former primary school teacher and village elder, allegedly made the first contact with Lil and lured her into going to work for her daughter in Rwamwanja, Kamwenge district.

Lil speaks out

"I told Tibategyeza that she should first ask daddy, but I was surprised to find her daughter, Nayebare, the following morning at our doorstep.

When she said she had come to pick me up, I asked a number of questions but she did not respond. She then hurriedly led me to a waiting bodaboda.

Nayebare told me to board quickly, saying we would discuss the matter further with her mother.

However, after a short distance, we found a parked car, which we boarded and they drove off fast. By the time I realised what was going on, we had moved to places I did not know.

"When we reached our destination, I was made to work as a maid at Nayebare's home. I would dig in her gardens for long hours, do the household chores plus laundry.

My pleas to let me talk to my parents fell on deaf ears as she claimed she did not have my father's phone contact.

Abused by a stranger

A visit by a strange boy, posing as Lil's protector one night, shattered her life.

"That night, Nayebare had gone out and a boy I did not know came to her house, saying she had sent him to keep me company.

The man instead defiled me after threatening to kill me if I made an alarm.

When I told Nayebare upon her return, she threatened to beat me, saying: ‘Are you a kid? What don't you know?'" That was in May, 2020.

Falling ill

Two weeks after her ordeal, Lil fell very sick, but Nayebare reportedly refused to take her to hospital for treatment.

"I was almost dying and unable to walk by myself when she handed me over to a taxi man, who took me to Mbarara, from where I was picked by my parents."

Lawrence says when Lil was bedridden at Ibanda Hospital, the medical workers discovered she was HIV-positive.

As Lil slowly and painfully comes to terms with her situation, her prayer is simple: "I want justice for all the harm done to me by the heartless people that shattered my innocence and ruined my life.

"The government should punish these people severely so that others learn from it.

The community and government should protect helpless children from those that want to take advantage of their innocence," pleads Lil with a twinge of sadness in her voice.

Abductor arrested, takes responsibility

According to Ibanda OC CID Paul Muhenda, Nayebare (in her 40s with an adult daughter) has admitted to the crime, but said it was out of compassion as the girl was reportedly being mistreated by her family.

The suspect, currently out on Police bond, will be charged with trafficking in persons, a capital offence that could see her spend years in jail, if found guilty.

Lil says she wants to go back to school, preferably for vocational training, as she tries to pick up the pieces of her life.

They say...

Okoth Ochola, Inspector General of police: "In 2019, 13,682 girls were defiled. Sex-related crimes, especially defilement, is one of the biggest challenges in Uganda, and poses a big problem to police."

Lawrence, Lil's father: "On June 14, I was told Lil had been dumped at Mbarara Taxi Park. When I saw her, she was very sick and could not move by herself."