Five Police officers arrested over death of rape suspect

POLICE|CRIME|RAPE

KAMPALA - Five Police officers are under arrest over the shooting to death of rape suspect Ali Ambayo, a private security guard at a prominent garage in Lugala, Rubaga division in Kampala.

The officers allegedly shot Ambayo, after failing to arrest him, for raping a woman who was on her way to work in the wee hours of Wednesday.

Preliminary Police findings indicate that the victim (names withheld) runs a food joint in Rubaga. She reported the case to the Police.

The officers attached to Lugala Police Post under Old Kampala Police Station reportedly failed to apprehend Ambayo prompting them to fire the bullets that ended his life.

They allegedly claimed he was killed by a ‘stray bullet'. Ambayo was a resident of Lugala, though his family lived in Kakiri, Wakiso district.

Eyewitnesses told New Vision that they had a woman scream for help at about 5:00 am on Wednesday morning. They said Ambayo was a tough and feared man in the area.

Kampala Metropolitan Police spokesperson Patrick Onyango said Thursday,  the rape suspect reportedly resisted arrest and attempted to disarm officers.

Suspect clearly identified

 "The suspect is alleged to have raped a woman on Wednesday. The rape victim narrated to the Police her ordeal. She identified the suspect clearly," Onyango said.

"The incident happened near a location where there are closed circuit television (CCTV) cameras. The detectives retrieved the footage and analysed it. Detectives identified the suspect on the CCTV footage."

Onyango said the officers discharged warning shots, but the suspect went ahead and attempted to grab a gun from one of the officers.

The officer's colleague fired bullets that killed the suspect. Recently, the Deputy Inspector General of Police, Sabiiti Muzeyi, said gender-based violence remains one of the top human rights violations that need to be tackled with the seriousness and the focus it deserves.

Sabiiti said the Uganda Demographic Health Survey 2016 shows that women are more than twice as likely to have experienced sexual violence at some point in their lives as men.

A 2007 report by the health ministry identified the most prevalent types of violence at the time as wife battering, defilement and rape.

He also revealed that the Police is strengthening its forensic capabilities in dealing with investigations of offences related to sexual and gender based violence so as to improve the quality of evidence.