Two policemen suspended for beating 63-year-old woman
Ms Jenifer Wambani, 63, at her stall along Majanji Road in Busia Town, where she was attacked and beaten by two police officers, according to eyewitness accounts and a video footage. PHOTO/DAVID AWORI
What you need to know:
- Mr Johnson Egesa, another eyewitness, described the incident as “brutal”, saying after the two officers had successfully subdued their victim, they kicked and boxed her severely until she was rescued by other officers.
Two police officers attached to the traffic department are being probed for allegedly physically assaulting an elderly woman in Busia District.
A video, which was discreetly recorded at the end of last month, before finding its way to social media sites, shows an elderly woman being kicked by the traffic officers while she lay by the roadside next to her stall near Busia Central Police Station.
Mr Moses Mugwe, the Bukedi South Region Police Publicist, has since identified the victim as Ms Jenipher Wambani, 63, and the offenders as Mr John Muyinda and Mr Abner Nabusima, both attached to the traffic department of the Uganda Police Force.
“It’s true two of our officers attached to the traffic police department at Busia Central Police Station are being investigated for beating a woman who was operating a stall next to the Police Station,” Mr Mugwe said at the weekend.
He added that the duo had been put on suspension pending disciplinary trial for their conduct which he described as “irregular and discreditable”.
According to eyewitness accounts, the police officers physically assaulted Ms Wambani after she purportedly pelted them with stones and attacked another officer with a stick.
Mr Joseph Ojambo, who witnessed the melee, said Ms Wambani reacted and attacked the policemen as she protested an incident where they had caused one boda boda rider to fall as they arrested him.
He said: “We saw the old woman pick stones and pelt the police officers, and also used a piece of wood to hit another on the hand; in response, the officers wrestled her to the ground as they rained kicks, blows and slaps on her until other police officers came to her rescue.”
Mr Johnson Egesa, another eyewitness, described the incident as “brutal”, saying after the two officers had successfully subdued their victim, they kicked and boxed her severely until she was rescued by other officers.
Mr Egesa added that after the police officers beat Ms Wambani, they poured water on her merchandise, beddings and vandalized the structure in which she slept.
Ms Wambani, however, denies attacking the police officers, saying she was beaten after she complained about the manner in which the boda boda rider was being handled.
Mr Mugwe said whereas the elderly woman interfered with lawful duties of the two police officers, they shouldn’t have reacted the way they did, adding that police standing orders bar male officers from arresting female suspects.
Instead, the publicist said the officers had time to walk to the police station, open up a case and female officers would have been called to arrest the suspect, rather than taking the law in their hands.
Following the incident, Mr Mugwe urged police officers to always act professionally with self-control and respect to human rights.
