Acid attacker sentenced to 35 years for killing lover

High Court has sentenced a 40-year-old former Soroti town socialite to 35 years in prison for attacking his lover with acid that claimed her life in 2013.
Prior to the Friday judgment by Justice David Batema, prosecution gave incriminating evidence against Andrew Francis Obiria.
Court heard that on September 8, 2013, Obiria poured acid on Dorothy Atim which led to her death.
Prosecution added that following the acid attack, Atim was found at the main gate to their home in senior quarters in Soroti Town, creaking in pain. She muttered the boyfriend’s name as the person who poured acid on her, before she was admitted to Mulago intensive care unit where she died days later.

Justice Batema told the fully packed court that the evidence was substantial enough to incriminate Obiria.
“I take her cry very seriously and through her mother who confirmed that she identified the attacker, there is no doubt the deceased recognized the accused because there were security lights,” Justice Batema said, adding that the facts that constituted the state of killing were admissible since the deceased remained consistent even while at Soroti and Mulago national referrals hospitals.

He ruled out any possibility of mistaken identity on the victim’s side , saying based on the circumstantial evidence, the convict (Obiria) at one point approached one of the teachers at Soroti Secondary School demanding to be given acid.
He said the accused went underground, before he later handed himself to police, adding that the wounds found on the accused showed scattered scars consistent with acid burns.

However, Mr Gabriel Ogire, the lawyer who represented Obiria pleaded that his client deserved a lenient punishment because according to medical checkups, one of the doctors found him suffering from epilepsy that is most likely to damage his brain.
“My lord, while in prison the accused was diagnosed with epilepsy which Dr Martin Marembwe said he might get brain damage and requires special attention of a specialized doctor,” Mr Ogire said.
Obiria who has been on remand for the last five years, was whisked to Soroti government prison from where he will be transferred to Luzira maximum security prison, where he will serve his sentence.