eastnews.co.ug
Two men in the eastern districts of Budaka and Kibuku are being investigated by area police for allegedly turning their biological daughters into wives.
In Bubulanga A village, Kamonkoli Town Council in Budaka District, a 75-year-old Khalidi Tawoda, was given a hundred strokes of the cane for raping and defiling his 16-year-old daughter.
Tawoda, is alleged to have committed the offence when other family members were not home promising to give her some money if she kept silent.
Mr Sam Mboizi, the Bakaligoko Gombololo clan head said that Tawoda confessed to committing incest and that as a clan they decided to perform cultural rituals to cleanse them. As part of the rituals, Tawoda was directed to buy a he-goat, chicken, millet flour and matooke.
“The incident irked the village elders who decided to perform a cleansing ceremony which involved caning the man 100 times. This is meant to avert possible generational curse due to the incestuous act,” he said.
Mr Mboizi explained that both the father and the victim were undressed before the general public who had turned up in big numbers to witness the rare occurrence.
The traditional ceremony which kicked off at 8.00am and ended at 5.00pm, was performed at his home in the presence of his family, clan members and the community.
“Hundreds of people from the nearby areas convened to have a glance at the man who turned his daughter as his wife. They later started beating up the man until the intervention of his son who showed up armed with a panga and a big stick,” Mr Mboizi said.
It is reported that rumours of the incestuous act in the family started making rounds in late June but there was no proof until relatives intervened by beating up the girl until she revealed the truth.
“The case was reported at Kamonkoli Police Station but still the clan leaders opted to have these matters resolved at the clan level. These are clan matters despite having an element of rape and defilement. We wanted to first cleanse them then allow the law to take its course,” Mr Mboizi said.
The Bukedi North Regional Police commander, Mr Cyrus Omalla, said that if such a case was handled by the clan court, it was wrong because rape cases are capital offences that should be reported and handled by the police and then court.
“This case will definitely be investigated to establish whether actually this man raped his daughter because these cases remain hidden in the communities which pose a big risk in the future,” he said.
Meanwhile, in the neighbouring Kibuku District, Police are also investigating a case of incest involving a 40-year-old father and his 14-year-old daughter.
The police say the father identified as Samuel Nyaghasi, a resident of Kagondo village in Bulangira Sub County, reportedly started defiling his biological daughter while at the age of 12 and later impregnated her.
This was after he divorced his wife identified as Sarah Naigaga.
