Man jailed 30 years for defilement asks court to castrate him

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | A 30-year-old man from Luweero district will spend 30 years in jail for defiling his 10-year-old sister in law. He was charged with aggravated defilement.

Kassim Kisomeso, a resident of Busiika town in Luweero district was found guilty of defiling his sister in law for 15 consecutive days between September 14 and September 29, last year. According to Luweero State Attorney Beatrice Alok Odong, Kisomeso frequently had sexual intercourse with the minor until he was uncovered by his wife.

But Kisomeso defended himself saying that besides being drunk at the time, the wife falsely accused him after a domestic misunderstanding. However, a medical doctor from Kalagala health centre IV testified that the girl’s hymen was raptured and she developed an infection by the time she was taken to the facility for medical attention.

He was convicted and sentenced during the Special Gender-Based Violence Criminal session presided over by Justice Damalie Lwanga based on the account given by both the wife and the doctor.

After conviction, Kisomeso asked the court for a pardon and instead of a custodial sentence, give him a suspended sentence and castrate him to tame his sexual urge so that he can look after his eight-months-old baby.

But Alok asked court to sentence the accused person to 30 years in jail because he was not remorseful and wasted court’s resources as well as time.

In his sentence, Justice Lwanga said there is no punishment in Uganda laws where a convict like him can be castrated by injection to protect the public. Lwanga instead sustained the jail sentence and a fine of 400,000 Shillings as compensation for the physical injuries and emotional stress on the victim.

Lwanga added that the punishment will keep Kisomeso away from the public and deter others from committing the same offence. However, the court also considered the one-year that he had spent on remand and directed that this be removed from the sentence. She however gave him 14-days to appeal both the judgment and the sentence. Kisomeso will serve his sentence at Nakasongola prison.

In her Special Gender-Based Violence Criminal session which ends to next week, Justice Lwanga has sentenced 27 men to jail to serve sentences ranging from eight to 30-years after she found them guilty of defilement and rape.

Fahad Lugonvu, 19, a resident of Kakinzi village is one of those jailed for 24 years for raping a 20-year-old woman at Kawagaro village in Butuntumula sub-county. She also slapped fines ranging from 100,000 to 400,000 Shillings on some convicts as compensation to the victims.

Majority of the convicts with short sentences opted for a plea bargain.

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