Detained, tortured senior one student rescued by police after three weeks

A 16-year- old girl is nursing severe wounds at Mbale regional referral hospital where she’s admitted after she was allegedly tortured by her family members.

It’s alleged that Savana Namome, a senior one student at Maluku Secondary school in Mbale town, was beaten and locked inside the house for three weeks without food and medication by her aunt and step brothers over having a love affair with unidentified man.

Due to sustained deep wounds on different parts of her body, she currently can’t sit and walk. She only speaks with difficulty, and has undergone three different surgeries, a nurse attending to her at the hospital told Daily Monitor.

Ms Sharon Namono, another aunt of the victim says they had searched for her for weeks but in vain, forcing them to report to police on suspicion that she had been kidnapped.

“We decided to report the matter to police after our search didn’t pay off .When police came, they searched and found out that she had been locked inside the house,”Ms Namono, says.

Namome is a daughter to Mr Peter Kebeti, a resident of Musoto Village, Bukasakya Sub County in Mbale District but she was staying with her aunt, Aidah Nabulo, in the same village. Her father separated with her mother some years back.

But Namome, who was admitted at the hospital last week, told Daily Monitor that her aunt and step brothers tied her legs and hands before they started flogging her.

“After the beating, they untied me and locked me inside the house for three weeks without food. I think I would have died if I had been in their detention for another week,” she said on her sick bed.

The police officers who rescued Namome say they found her with deep cuts on some parts of her body like buttocks and thighs, which had started rotting.

“She was in deep pain and some of her body parts had starting rotting away. She was treated inhumanly,” said a police officer who asked not to be named because he’s not authorized to speak to journalists.

However, a case of torture has been reported at Musoto Police post.

The Mbale District Probation Officer, Ms Harriet Nekesa, condemned the act, adding that the victim has septic wounds she sustained after being tortured.

“We are worried because her condition is worsening day and night yet the guardians who are helping her don’t have money to buy drugs for her treatment on daily basis,” said.

Ms Nekesa also decried the increasing cases of torture and gender based violence in the district.

“We need collective effort against violence on children by their parents, relatives and caretakers,’ Ms Nekesa, said.

She revealed that some of the common child cases in the district as child torture, child neglect among others.

The Elgon region Police Spokesperson, Mr Suwed Manshur said three of Namome’s step brothers had been arrested, charged in court and remanded to Malukhu government prison as the hunt for the prime suspect, who’s believed to be hiding in Kiryadongo District continues.