The police in Masaka are on the spot for allegedly mismanaging investigations in a defilement case against a minor.
The police are accused of unscrupulously releasing on bond a suspect who was arrested for aggravated rape against an eight-year-old girl in Masaka city.
Sharif Baguma, the resident of Kirumba ward in Masaka City, accuses the officers at Masaka Central Police Station of mismanaging investigations in a case of rape against his daughter, leading to the release and eventual disappearance of the suspect.
He narrates that a week ago, his eight-year-old daughter, a pupil in Primary Two, was raped by one of their neighbors identified as Fulgencio Ssali Kawuki, but to their disappointment, the police have since messed up the investigations into the matter, hence threatening to frustrate efforts of seeking justice.
He indicates that on the fateful day, the victim had been sent to the nearby kiosk when the suspect lured her into his house, where he raped her.
Baguma accuses the police of deliberately coercing the victim to extract conflicting statements about the incident to confuse investigations.
He indicates that despite the victim identifying the suspect out of the many men who were presented at the identification parade, the police held him briefly, and he has since been released and fled.
Baguma says that he has also received various people, including police officers, discouraging him from pursuing the case, and that he has sometimes received threats from anonymous calls.
Sharon Komuhangi, the mother of the victim, expresses concern about the unclear circumstances surrounding the suspect’s release, even after the victim had identified him.
The victim was medically examined at Masaka Police Health Centre IV and was enrolled on Post-Exposure Prophylaxis pills, which are usually prescribed to prevent the possibility of acquiring HIV infections.
Komuhangi indicates that the victim still walks with difficulty and is psychologically stressed as a result of the incident, but to their disappointment, the suspect was released before he was presented before the courts of law.
She says they raised their concerns with the Masaka City Division Police Commander, Joseph Bakareke, who has also not been of help to them, suspecting there could be connivance to compromise the case file.
However, Faizol Baguma, the Acting Greater Masaka Regional Police Spokesperson, denied deliberate intentions to frustrate investigations into the matter, arguing that the suspect was released on bond and that police know his whereabouts.
He argues that the suspect was released because the victim was not consistent in her accounts about the incidents, which raises serious suspicions.
Baguma has appealed to the parents of the victim to remain calm and allow investigations to take their course, saying that justice will prevail.
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