Police in Bukedea are on the spot for allegedly sitting on defilement cases that have forced many children out of school.
A report compiled by Civil Society Organizations- CSOs operating in the district, shows that some of the files for defilement cases disappear from the Police records after when the officers on the ground initiate negotiations with the relatives of the victim.
The report also notes that the officers deliberately mismanage some defilement cases under the influence of money.
One of the defilement cases allegedly mismanaged involves a 12- year- old girl in Kabarwa Sub County.
The minor is reported to have been raped by a 23- year- old man and the medical report from Kabarwa HC3 confirmed penetration, according to Santos Osekeny, the Chairperson CSOs, and NGOs in Bukedea district.
Osekeny says that when the suspect was arrested, the Resident State Attorney asked the Police to conduct another medical examination on the minor to confirm whether there was penetration.
According to Osekeny, the second examination conducted two weeks after the incident indicated that there was no penetration, leading to the release of the suspect.
Another defilement case allegedly mismanaged involves a 16- year- old senior- two student of Grace High School in Aloet.
The report by the CSOs indicates that the girl was defiled by a primary- school teacher at Glory Nursery School in Aloet.
In this case, the parents were reportedly threatened by the authorities to stop following up on the matter.
The CSOs note that when the matter reached their attention, the authorities declined to give them an audience on grounds that they were not the biological parents to lodge the complaint or follow up on the matter.
The defiled victim has since dropped out of school as her frustrated parents have given up on her education.
In Kangole Sub County, a 13- year- old girl was defiled and impregnated by a man reportedly on the run. Information on the ground indicates that there was connivance between the family of the suspect and the Police who preferred to negotiate on the matter.
Pius Ekaba, an activist with Action Aid in Bukedea says that besides mismanagement of cases, the officers charge complainants to facilitate investigations of the defilement cases.
Charles Patrick Okoto, the Bukedea District Police Commander- DPC says that much as the allegations against the Police are grave and unprofessional, there are situations where officers are constrained especially on the transportation of suspects.
He notes that in situations where the officers don’t have transport, they request help to transport the suspects although the amount is sometimes exaggerated.
Okoto admitted before the district leaders that some of his officers on the ground act unprofessionally by initiating negotiations on the defilement cases, which enables them to pocket money from the relatives.
Hajji Imran Muluga, the Bukedea Resident District Commissioner says that the District Security Committee has picked interest in the matter and has directed the DPC to review the files under contention.
The RDC also notes that the security committee has directed that all defilement cases be handled at the district police headquarters.
Source: URN