Court remands 15 children over stealing saucepans, jerrycans
Court hammer. Photo/Courtesy
What you need to know:
The 15 juveniles aged between 10 and 16 years were arrested last week during security operations to curb criminality in the district
The Grade One Magistrate’s Court in Bushenyi District has remanded 15 juveniles to Kabale Remand Home for stealing saucepans and jerrycans.
The 15 juveniles aged between 10 and 16 years were arrested last week during security operations to curb criminality in the district.
Nine of them were charged with theft, while six others were charged with assault and threatening violence.
According to the police, the suspects have been masquerading as scrap dealers in Bushenyi-Ishaka Municipality.
Grade One Magistrate Ahmed Omar Halimah heard that on June 13, the nine children, while in Central Cell, Central Ward in Bushenyi-Ishaka Municipality, stole two saucepans and two jerrycans, all properties of Ms Miria Muhwezi.
The suspects pleaded not guilty to all the charges before they were remanded until August 8, as investigations continue.
The Bushenyi Resident District Commissioner (RDC), Mr Robert Atuhairwe, who processed their transfer to the remand home, said the number of children who commit crime had increased.
“We find ourselves with a burden as district security committee, looking for the way to bring the children to justice or how to rehabilitate them yet essentially, we don’t have enough resources to undertake that process,” he said.
Mr Atuhairwe said the problem of child delinquency has become a serious matter in the district.
“Even more have been brought in after taking the 15 but as security, we shall not sit back and watch. We shall begin arresting parents of these juveniles too,” he warned.
He said some of these children complain of harassment and negligence which calls for intervention of the authorities to discover why they are running away from homes to towns where some endanger security of residents and their properties.
“Another thing they can’t be treated as adults. As minors, they have to be treated with confidentiality,” he said.
Ms Faith Amanya Betega, the district probation officer, said they will start to hold parents accountable over their children’s behaviour.
“We have agreed to call their parents when they appear before court on August 8 because as children, they are not the problem but the homes they come from are the problem. How can a child become notorious under the parents watch?” she said.
The 15 children who were remanded are among the 21 children who were arrested by police last week in an operation to reduce crime in the district.
