Man to serve life sentence for sodomising pupils

A RESIDENT of Geita, Mbaga Julius, has been set to remain behind bars for the rest of his life for allegedly sodomising repeatedly three Primary School boys after luring them with rice buns and smoking bhangs.

This follows the decision of the Court of Appeal to dismiss the appeal Julius, the appellant, had lodged to fault findings of the District Court and the High Court.

Justices Edward Rutakangwa, Salum Massati and Stella Mugasha upheld the appellant’s conviction on three out of five counts he was previously found guilty of, as were proved beyond reasonable doubt.

“We do not find cogent reasons to disturb the concurrent findings of the two courts below in respect of the three counts. We accordingly dismiss the appeal,” they declared.

The justices were of the considered opinion that the evidence adduced by three boys (names withheld) despite their tender ages, sufficiently proved that the appellant committed the offence he was charged with.

According to them, the boys gave a coherent narration of the sad and shameful incidence and the record clearly showed that they knew the appellant who regularly met them at their school.

They noted further that the appellant used to buy rice buns to the boys and directed them to go to the dam where he accomplished his desire, in assistance of his group under threats.

“In this regard, the appellant’s complaint that he was identified in the dock is farfetched because he was identified by the victims before stepping in the dock,” the justices said.

They noted further that the credible evidence of the boys solely was sufficient to ground a conviction of the appellant in terms of section 127 (7) of the Evidence Act.

“Besides, in the instant case, the evidence of (the boys) is corroborated by the documentary evidence, the PF3 (and doctor’s report) collectively which established the victims’ anal enlargement caused by blunt object,” the justices said.

It was alleged that on unknown dates and times in 2012, at Lake View area in Nyamalembo village, Geita Region, the appellant did sodomise the six male children against the order of nature.

Facts of the case showed that the victims were all pupils of Mseto Primary School and met the appellant who used to go at their institution during break time. He lured them with rice buns and took them to the dam and sodomised them.

As such shameful act continued for quite some time, one parent of the boys realised that her son who regularly went to school was not writing notes. She went to school together with her son to inquire from the teachers.

Upon being interrogated by the teachers, the son revealed that he and other children were regularly being "lured by the appellant" who bought them sweets and rice buns, then took them to the lake and forced them to smoke cannabis and sodomise them.

The appellant threatened them not to reveal the shameful acts or else he would kill all of them. The boys recalled that in some instances, the appellant was assisted by a group of street children who held and forced them to bend to enable him to accomplish the sodomy.

It was at that point in time when the incidence was reported to the police where the victims were issued with PF3s and taken to hospital for examination, where it was proved that they were indeed sodomised.

Source: Daily News