18-year-old woman arrested over torture of teen in video

Police in Kampala have arrested an 18-year-old woman for allegedly mobilising her colleagues to torture her 14-year-old colleague over a lover. The hunt for the remaining suspects is on.

According to police, the suspect is part of a group of girls caught in a video that has since gone viral beating up the 14-year-old (names withheld). The minor is accused of attempting to steal a boyfriend.

Kampala Metropolitan Police deputy spokesperson Luke Owoyesigyire yesterday said the suspect was arrested from Kensington Village in Kyanja, a city suburb, and is currently detained at Kiira Division Police headquarters on charges of torture.

“She is the prime suspect that invited the victim to attend her birthday celebrations,” he tweeted.

Mr Owoyesigyire said they are hunting for the other suspects seen in the video.

“The police at Kawempe have embarked on investigations into the viral Tiktok video that made rounds of social media showing a girl being tortured by a group of fellow girls and investigations into the matter have commenced,” he said.

According to Mr Owoyesigyire, after the video went viral, the mother of the victim reported to police that the girl had been missing from home for some time.

“The tortured girl was identified by her mother, Aisha Kwagala,” he said.

Detectives at Kawempe Police Station told Monitor that Ms Kwagala after watching the video, travelled from her home in Mpigi District to Maganjo in Wakiso District where her daughter was staying with a relative.

Ms Kwagala told police that her daughter had run away from their home in Kagaba Zone, Kiringente Sub-county, Mpigi District.

“I am the mother of the girl who has been beaten in the video. She escaped from my home but I have seen her being tortured by people I don’t know,” she is quoted as telling the police officers.

Police first opened a case of disappearance but they later established that the tortured girl had been called by her friends at their home.

Mr Owoyesigyire said on physical examination, police realised that the girl was in too much pain and she needed to be examined by a police surgeon to classify the injuries she had on the body.

“We agreed with the parents to keep her at our shelter as we wait for the examination of the surgeon,” he said.

Mr Horace Mugabi, a lawyer and human rights activist, who is among the people that got concerned after watching the torture video, told Monitor that he visited Kawempe Police Station and was allowed access to the victim.

He said the victim is in a better health condition.

“Thank you all who have reached out and managed to share the contacts, Police are already working on the case and I will give a detailed soon, freedom from torture is a non-derivable right and ought to be protected,” he said.

According to the 2020 annual police crime report, a total of 1,287 cases of child abuse and torture were reported, compared to 1,302 cases in 2019.