JINJA, UGANDA: Police in Jinja have arrested and detained a teacher identified as Joshua Wandegeya for allegedly defiling a 6-year-old pupil of White Rose Junior School located in Kayunga cell, Jinja northern division in Jinja city.
The suspect according to Kiira regional police spokesperson SP James Mubi, teaches Mathematics and English from primary three to primary four at the very school and the incident reportedly happened on Thursday this week.
“We have arrested Joshua Wandegeya, a teacher at White Rose Junior School for allegedly defiling his pupil. The suspect teaches Mathematics and English from P.3 to P.4, and the incident happened at the school on August 3, 2023,” SP James Mubi said.
DailyExpress has learnt that the suspect is related to the school proprietor as a brother-in-law and police used tactics to have the suspect arrested. Police say they are gathering empirical information to exhaust inquiries and have the suspect aligned in court.
“Joshua Wandegeya is related to the owner of the school identified as Alex and he is a brother-in-law to the owner of the school. Police used tactics to have the suspect arrested and we are gathering further information so as to exhaust inquiries and have the accused person appear in court,” Mubi added.
The victim was given police medical forms to enable her to be examined and SP Mubi said, “We continue to sensitize members of the public to report such cases without fear or intimidation.”
Increased Defilement Cases
According to SP Mubi, consolidated crime data for 2021 showed that 41 aggravated defilement cases, 122 simple defilement cases and 17 rape cases were reported, while in 2022, 45 aggravated defilement cases, 67 simple defilement cases and 35 rape cases were reported.
“This shows an increase in aggravated defilement, simple defilement and rape cases, which can be attributed to failure or reluctance by parents to appear in court when the time for testifying comes,” Mubi observed.
The data also shows an increase in mostly gender-based violence cases that is to say aggravated defilement, simple defilement and raped.
This according to Mubi is attributed to failure or reluctance by the parents and another witness to fail to appear in court when the time for testifying in court comes. Some parents in the due course of investigations settle these cases out of court which is completely out of the laws of Uganda.
He also blamed some parents for allegedly settling such (capital) offences outside court, which he said is against the laws of Uganda. To this effect, SP Mubi advised that “police are always there to receive and handle such cases without fear and intimidation, once reported in time.”
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