Man sent on remand over defiling 4 grandchildren

Court has sent on remand a 62-year-old man who allegedly defiled his four granddaughters in a Kampala suburb.
Muhammuddu Iddi Zingo, also known as Taata Medi, who is living with HIV/Aids, was yesterday arraigned before Kampala City Hall Court on four charges of aggravated defilement.
He appeared before Grade one Magistrate Jane Tibagozenka who did not allow him to plead to the charges.

“This court has no jurisdiction to hear this matter being capital in nature,” Ms Tibagozenka said.
She then remanded him to Luzira prison.
 “You can apply for bail, if you so wish, before the High Court that is seized with powers to try capital offences,” she added, before adjourning the case to April 25 for mention.

Prosecution states that between March 2020 and March 2022 in Namuli Zone, Bukoto, a Kampala suburb, Zingo unlawfully performed sexual acts with the three girls aged two, six and nine years respectively, well knowing that he is living with HIV.
In a separate file, prosecution also alleges that on March 25, 2023, he unlawfully performed sexual acts with a three-year-old girl.

Upon conviction, Zingo faces life in prison or death. In an interview, the mother of the three-year-old, who requested to speak on condition of anonymity, said she reported to Kira Road Police after noticing changes in her child’s movement.
“I always leave my daughter at my mother’s house everyday as I go to work because I have nowhere to leave her and my mother shares the compound with the suspect, who is her brother,” she said.
The mother said she always comes back with dates which they normally eat while breaking their fast late in the evening.

She further claimed that on the fateful day, the suspect lured her daughter into his house, promising to give her more dates and then defiled her.
The mother also noted that her three-year-old daughter was put on Post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) for six months while other victims did not get a chance to be taken to hospital early since they decided to keep quiet.

What son says
However, one of the accused’s sons, who also preferred to speak on condition of anonymity, said his father was being victimised due a family land wrangle.
He said the piece of land on which their family house stands was given to them by their late grandfather who cautioned them never to sell it.

“At the time of dividing among themselves, my father (Zingo) was not around and when he came back, he found part of his land was used as the family’s burial grounds and they did not want him to use the remaining vacant part,” he said.
He added that his father owns a company that takes care of vulnerable children of whom the alleged defilement victims are part and that he was surprised that they had turned against him.