KAMPALA, UGANDA: The Police in Kampala are investigating a case involving a male student of Makerere University who is accused of sending love messages to another male student of the same university.
Kampala Metropolitan Police Spokesperson Mr Patrick Onyango confirmed the report and said the case was reported at Mbalala police in Mukono District by one Karungi Lawrence, a third-year student of Bachelor of Commerce accusing the unnamed law student of trying to seduce him.
It is alleged that the two met around Makerere when Karungi visited a friend in one of the hostels near the University and exchanged phone contacts with the suspect.
“He did not know that he (suspect) was interested in him. So, he (the suspect) started sending him love messages and seducing him on WhatsApp. Since he is a straight guy, he did not bother but he continued sending his love messages which annoyed Karungi before he went to Mbalala Police station to report him,” Mr Onyango said.
According to Onyango, Karungi submitted all the WhatsApp messages that the suspect had been sending to him to police and said this will help the officers in their ongoing investigation.
“We are yet to summon the suspect to record his statement. We are going to submit the messages and the suspect’s phone to our ICT experts for analysis,” Mr Onyango added.
Mr Karungi who was interviewed separately by a local newspaper (DailyMonitor) said that he opened up the case on July 22 at Mbalala police station after his (suspect’s) “sexual harassment and persistence.”
“He was sending me weird messages, including pictures of gay people. Also telling me that he can give me money. I wasn’t interested and I told him to stop. He persisted in sending messages and I had to take a serious step,” Mr Karungi said.
When contacted, the suspect (whose details were withheld so as not to jeopardize the investigations), declined knowing the complainant, let alone meeting him.
“These are just smear campaigns and moves by anti-gay campaigners and the government against my work as a human rights defender,” he said.
Homosexual acts are already illegal in Uganda but now anyone convicted faces life imprisonment.
President Museveni in May this year signed a bill criminalizing same-sex conduct, including potentially the death penalty for those convicted of “aggravated homosexuality,” into law.
The law imposes the death penalty for aggravated cases, such as having gay sex with someone below the age of 18 or where the victim is infected with a life-long illness like HIV/Aids.
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