KANONI | UGANDA
A boda boda rider has been found guilty of raping his female passenger and handed a handed a 30-year in jail term.
Mpigi High Court that was presided over by Lady Justice Winifred Nabisinde found
Christopher Damulira, a resident of Kanoni in Gomba District, guilty of raping a 17-year-old passenger.
Prosecution told court that on March 29, 2018, Damulira was hired by his victim to take her to home several miles from Kanoni town.
However, according to prosecution, along the way, the convict pretended that his motorbike had run out of fuel in the middle of a forest.
According to prosecution, Damulira tried to seduce his victim to have sex with him but he was turned down. He later wrestled her to the ground, tore her knickers and forcefully had sexual intercourse with her.
Before the commencement of the trial, Damulira pleaded not guilty.
Later, he pleaded guilty and asked for a lenient sentence.
Delivering her judgment on Tuesday, Justice Nabisinde said that the convict had wasted court’s time.
“When the victim appeared before court and narrated the evil things that happened to her, Damulira seemed unbothered and insisted that he hadn’t committed the crime. That experience alone was torture to the victim. He further wasted court’s time and government resources only to plead guilty at the last minute,” Lady Justice Nabisinde said.
According to Lady Justice Nabisinde, the act of raping a passenger breached trust people have in operators of boda bodas and gives a bad impression to many good boda boda operators.
She said that people like Damulira are making girls and women feel unsafe in their communities.
She handed Damulira a 30-year jail term considering his age and the fact that he is a first time offender.
The maximum penalty for rape is death by hanging.
