Rape victim abandoned in Mbarara
MPs talk to the rape victim at her friend’s home in Rugazi Ward, Mbarara Municipality on Wednesday Photo by Rajab Mukombozi.
What you need to know:
Female MPs accuse Action Aid Uganda of abandoning the woman yet they had promised to assist her.
Mbarara- A 23-year-old woman who was allegedly gang-raped and sodomised by five Pakistan nationals recently, was on Wednesday found abandoned in Mbarara Town.
Members of the Uganda Women Parliamentary Association (UWOPA) found the victim at Ms Asiat Gamba’s residence in Baghdad Cell, Rugazi Ward in Mbarara Municipality.
Ms Gamba, who is the victim’s friend, said she found her staying with her mentally ill grandmother in Biharwe Sub-county with nothing to eat yet she was bleeding and passing out stool and urine.
UWOPA chairperson Rosemary Nyakikongoro said they got the news of the woman on Tuesday from a concerned citizen.
“It’s very unfortunate they were telling us she is improving and in stable condition when she is almost dying,’’ Ms Nyakikongoro said.
The victim told the MPs that she was dumped at her grandmother’s home by Action Aid officials, who claimed they were going for Christmas holidays and had no one to take care of her.
“They told me they were going for Christmas holidays and no one would take care of me at their shelter in Bwaise. On Monday, someone called Ambrose drove me here,” she told the MPs.
Kasese Woman MP Winfred Kiiza said the NGO should be investigated for any possible collusion with the perpetrators to see that the girl dies and they go scot free.
When contacted, Action Aid programmes director Harriet Gimbo said they had assigned people to look after her, adding that the organisation was not aware she had been abandoned. “As Action Aid, we are not aware that she was abandoned. We are going to make a statement over this matter,” Ms Gimbo said.
