Security guard tracked, caught for defiling a five year old girl.

A private guard attached to Arafa Security Group took advantage of darkness to grab a five-year-old girl and defile her. Mr Kaloli Walimbwa, 34, a resident of Mooni village, Bungokho-Mutoto Subcounty in Mbale District was a good friend to the victim’s father, Mr Moses Esera. The suspect and the victim are all residents of the same area. He met the young girl at around 8pm as she was going to Mooni Trading Centre for supper on August 17, 2014. Her mother operated a bar in the trading centre. The victim’s elder sisters had left her behind alone. Before the mother served supper, she realized one of the children was missing.

She interrogated the girl’s elder sisters and they denied seeing her. After about four hours of waiting, the girl arrived. Her father, Mr Esera, had rushed back home to check on his daughter. He did not find her.

He went around asking neighbors about the whereabouts of the girl, but they all denied knowledge about her. The residents started gathering to find what next course of action to take. There were diverse speculations on where the girl could be. Others asked the father to go and report the matter to the Local Council officials while others advised him to report the matter to police.

Some locals asked their friends to start a door-to-door search. The father first reported the disappearance of his daughter to the area Local Council chairperson. The parents and residents started the search but it did not yield any fruit. After hours of a fruitless search, the residents advised the parents to place announcements on local radio stations in Mbale, informing the public about the disappearance of the girl, but he ignored the advice because he did not have money. Residents who had gathered at the home of the victim started hatching other plans to trace the girl. Many blamed the parents for neglect. They wanted the parents to be arrested as the search continued. The girl did not return. Panic reigned high. As they were still mooting other option, Ms Justine Namuwenge, a resident of the village, told them that she had seen Mr Walimba, the security guard, with the child at around 8pm. It was a vital lead. The father of the victim picked his phone and started calling Mr Walimbwa but the calls went unanswered. This prompted the locals and the parents to raid Mr Walimbwa’s home. They were directed by Ms Namuwenge who had seen him moving with the girl to his home. They found the door locked from inside. One of the Local Council officials asked Walimbwa to open, but he refused. They made an alarm which attracted more people at the home. They called the local defense secretary to help them. They forced the door open and found the girl holding her pants stained with blood. The victim’s mother fainted and was rushed to Mbale Regional Referral Hospital. Upon hearing the news, the locals charged at Walimbwa to lynch him but he was rescued by the Local Council chairperson person who whisked him away to his house before transferring him to Mbale Central Police Station. Walimbwa pleaded for forgiveness.

The angry residents also wanted to burn down his house in Magale village, Magale Sub-county in Manafwa

District, about 50km from Mbale Town. They were blocked by police. The case was registered under CRB

1781/2014. Since the suspect was a regular customer in the girl’s mother’s bar, the victim used to call him “uncle”. The following day, the then Mbale District Police Commander, Mr Gerald Twishime, assigned Detective Corporal Suzan Suubi to handle that case. Detective Suubi started her investigations with recording a statement from the victim. The victim told him that Mr Walimbwa lured her with a promise to buy for her mandazi (bread). The father of the victim also recorded a statement at Mbale Police Station. This was not enough to pin the suspect who had earlier denied any wrong doing. Detective Suubi decided to take the victim to Mbale General Clinic for medical examination by police surgeon Dr Bernabas Rubanza. In his report, Dr Rubanza confirmed the young girl had been defiled. The report confirmed a freshly torn hymen. Dr Rubanza’s report also indicated there was a white discharge in the girl’s private parts, suggestive presence of semen. The surgeon also examined the suspect and both examinations confirmed sexual contact between the victim and the suspect. Detective Suubi said after getting the doctor’s report she started hunting for more evidence from the residents and eyewitnesses. A team of detectives later visited the suspect’s home.

The detectives interacted with neighbours too to get more information.

Detective Suubi says the neighbours cooperated and gave police useful information regarding the incident.

They narrated how Walimbwa came with the girl and entered his house with her at night. Police then recorded statements from them.

Charge

They received enough evidence to pin the suspect. Mr Suubi now prepared a charge sheet for aggravated defilement and submitted the file to the Director of Public Prosecutions in Mbale for approval. The file was sanctioned and the suspect produced in Mbale Chief Magistrate’s Court on September 3rd 2014, where he was remanded, pending to be committed to the High Court for trial. Walimbwa was committed to the

Mbale High Court on September 23^rd 2014. Prosecutor told court that Walimbwa had committed the offence at his home on August 17, 2014 at Mooni village in Bungokho-Mutoto. On January 16, 2015, Justice Gidudu convicted Walimbwa for aggravated defilement and described his act as violent. The judge sentenced him to 10 years in jail at Malukhu Prison.

Legally speaking

The offence of aggravated defilement is provided for under section 129(3) of the penal code act cap 120 as amended which criminalizes performing a sexual act on someone below the age of 14, so what makes it aggravated is the fact that the victim is below 14 years. If the victim was above 14 but below 18 it would simply be defilement

Steps to be taken

1.      Report the suspect to the nearest police station so that he is arrested and record a statement if you are well conversant with the facts

2.      Take the victim to the police station so that she is examined and also taken for medical examination so as to get evidence of defilement

3.      The witnesses or people who have any information on the incident should also go and record their statements

4.      The police will go ahead and carry out further investigation and draft a charge sheet so that the accused is taken to court.

This article is courtesy of The Daily Monitor and edited by Advocate Ricky Mudali