Woman sentenced to five years for luring 14-year-old girl into marriage
What you need to know:
- Mukiibi regretted Nakabambwe’s act, saying instead of giving the minor parental care, she took advantage of her vulnerability.
Jinja High Court judge, Justice Winfred Nabisinde, has sentenced a 31-year-old woman to five years in prison for luring a 14-year-old girl into “marriage”.
Hellen Nakabambwe pleaded guilty to aggravated trafficking in children through her lawyer, Daniel Mudumbusi under a plea bargain arrangement.
Plea bargain is an agreement between the prosecution and the defendant, where the defendant pleads guilty in exchange for sentencing consideration.
Court heard that Nakabambwe, a resident of Kasira village, Kidera Sub-county, Buyende District, committed the offence in October 2022 when she took the girl, a daughter of her neighbour, to Iganga District for marriage.
Prosecution told court that Nakabambwe convinced the girl who had just dropped out of school to accompany her on a visit to relatives in Iganga District, but while there, a man identified as “Paul” reportedly expressed interest in the minor.
It is further said that Paul, whose full details were not revealed, approached Nakabambwe, who then connected him to the girl.
Court further heard that after returning to Buyende, Paul sent the girl Shs20,000 through Nakabambwe as her transport to Iganga District, and she accordingly travelled to meet him on October 26, 2022.
“During daytime, the victim would stay with Paul’s mother, but at night, she would sleep with Paul in his house,” State Prosecutor Lawrence Mukiibi submitted.
As the search for the girl intensified back home in Buyende District, Nakabambwe reportedly confided in the victim’s auntie what had transpired, and she reported the matter to police in Buyende, who swiftly arrested Nakabambwe before tracing and rescuing the victim.
Mukiibi regretted Nakabambwe’s act, saying instead of giving the minor parental care, she took advantage of her vulnerability.
However, defence lawyer Daniel Mudumbusi said his client was “remorseful and needed to be treated with leniency since she was a mother with children to care for.”
Mudumbusi then presented to court a plea bargain agreement signed between the prosecution and defence, in which both parties agreed to a five-year jail term for Nakabambwe, which Justice Nabisinde accepted.
The judge, however, directed that the one year and four months that the convict has spent on remand at Kirinya Prisons be taken into account.
