Defilement suspect arrested in Wakiso after hiding for two months

The Kampala Metropolitan deputy Police Spokesperson, Luke Owoyesigyire confirmed the arrest and identified the suspect as Jessy Ssempala, a resident of Kirolo in Masulita, Wakiso District and is currently being detained at Kakiri Police Division.

“We have him in our custody and are currently investigating defilement allegations levied against him by the complainant,” he said.

According to Owoyesigyire, Ssempala together with his colleague identified as Musulo on May 18 allegedly defiled the victim whose names have been withheld because she is a minor and after went the act, hit her on the head with a blunt object causing massive blood flow which made the suspects think that she had died.

A case of defilement on reference 11/18/05/2024 was reported by the victim’s parents at Masulita police station that fateful day, after discovering him.

Owoyesigyire said that the suspect’s arrest followed a tip-off by officials from Project Rescue Children Foundation and Cherished Children’s Foundation, who have been following this case since it happened in May.

“Together with these officials, our officers trailed the suspect who was riding on the motorcycle and later apprehended him when he tried to flee in Masulita,” he said.

A video footage Monitor has seen shows Mr Sempala riding on a motorcycle as police officers and officials from the two organisations chased him in a white vehicle. Moments later, the man is  seen abandoning the motorcycle and the police arrested him.

Mr Ezrah Julius Ssebuliba, the founder and executive director of Cherished Children’s Foundation told Monitor that they were prompted to intervene after learning about the case when the victim’s parents reported the defilement case at Masulita Police Station.

 “It was yesterday (July 16), when our informers we put on ground alerted us that one of the suspects was nearby and from there we went directly to Kakiri Police Division  where we got police officers and started following the suspect. It was not an easy task  to get him because he was using Boda-Boda to hide around from main road but we finally netted him in areas of Masulita,” he said. 

“We thank the police and our partners for helping rescue children because we have been together in everything till we got this suspect. We shall follow him up to court as we are still helping our victim in education and other needs,” Mr Ssebuliba added. 

The founder and executive director of  Project Rescue Children Foundation, Adam Whittington in a telephone interview said, “Our goal is to bring justice for these innocent children and prevent such incidents from occurring in the future, and as such we are going to increase sensitisation in communities and schools.” 

Police said they are still hunting for the second suspect Musulo. Ssempala’s arrest comes a month after Police in Buwaate, Wakiso District arrested Geremy Niyokurun, 40, who also allegedly defiled a young girl in June.

According to the Annual Police Crime Reports, cases of defilement increased from 14,230 in 2020 to 14,436 cases in 2021. They reduced to 12,580 in 2022 before increasing to 12,771 in 2023 according to the recent report. The 2023 police report further stated that 8925 cases were simple defilement while the rest were aggravated defilement.

In the Uganda Penal Code, defilement  is considered to be aggravated if the "girl is under 14 years old, the offender has HIV/AIDS, the offender is the victim's parent or guardian, the girl has a disability, or the offender is a serial offender, and it carries a maximum penalty of death."

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