Two men arrested for gang-raping man

Police have arrested two men who allegedly gang-raped a 19-year-old man in Kampala. 

They allegedly lured the man  at a residence in Makindye Division, Kampala City last month.

Kampala Metropolitan Police deputy spokesman Luke Owoyesigyire said the suspects are detained at Katwe Police Station as investigations and examination of the 19-year-old victim continues.

“The victim reported that case on Saturday. (February 18). He said that he was raped last month and he identified the suspects,” Assistant Superintendent of Police Owoyesigyire said yesterday. 

 He added: “The detectives have forwarded him to the police surgeon for examination. The entire process will be done on Monday and we shall determine the way forward.’’

According to Section 145 of the Penal Code Act, 1950, it is criminal to have unnatural sexual intercourse and it attracts a life imprisonment on conviction. 

“Any person who has carnal knowledge of any person against the order of nature commits an offence and is liable to imprisonment for life,” Section 145(a) of the Act states.

The prime suspect is 23 years old while another is 18 years old. 

The victim told the detectives that he first met one of the suspects and found him at his work place at a salon on Salaama Road in Makindye.

He said the suspect told him that he was working for peanuts and that he could get him a well-paying job.

Their friendship was cemented, he said.   

Mr Owoyesigyire said one day the suspect invited the victim to his home, which he obliged.

“The victim said that the suspect told him that he should spend the night at his home so that they travel together early in the morning,’’ Mr Owoyesigyire told Daily Monitor.

Mr Owoyesigyire added: ‘‘The victim said that at night, the suspect showed him where he would sleep. He said it was the same bed that the suspect was also going to sleep. While in the house, another man visited and they wrestled him (victim) down and they sodomised him in turns.’’

The victim told detectives that he was in a state of shock.

He also told them that he took a month to report the incident because  of fear and  embarrassment. 

The victim said he was later allowed to go away without even getting the job he was promised by the suspect. 

The annual police crime reports indicate that cases of unnatural offences are on the rise in the country. 

In 2021, police investigated 80 cases in unnatural offences in the country compared to 79 incident that they studied in 2020. 

Mr Owoyesigyire said the newest incident is treated with extreme care to ensure that justice is served. 

“We are yet to determine whether he was sexually assaulted or not. We have been told that the surgeon is able to find injuries after that period of time. The forensic experts are on the way to visit the scene and extract evidence that might help in the investigation,” he said. 

Past cases

The Penal Code Act criminalises any acts deemed to be against the order of nature.

 On August 4, 2022, the BBC reported that official police data showed that 194 people were charged for committing “unnatural offences’’ between 2017 and 2020, including 25 who went on to be convicted in Uganda.

The British broadcaster quoted Mr Frank Mugisha, the director of  Sexual Minorities Uganda (Smug). 

“This is a clear witch hunt rooted in systematic homophobia, fuelled by anti-gay and anti-gender movements,” said Mr Mugisha, who is a gay Ugandan activist.

He accused authorities of treating members of Uganda’s LGBT minority as second-class citizens and trying to erase their existence completely.

Mr Mugisha made the remarks after the officials announced they were halting Smug’s operations because the campaign group, founded in 2004, had failed to register its name with the National Bureau for non-governmental organisations (NGOs)

In a statement the NGO Bureau acknowledged that Smug had attempted to register with authorities in 2012, but that the application had been rejected because Smug’s full was considered “undesirable.”