Police in Buyende district have apprehended a 23-year-old man and a local council chairman in connection with the alleged defilement of a 17-year-old girl and the compounding of a felony, respectively.
The individuals involved have been identified as Wycliff Mugeere, a resident of Namalogwe in Nkoone Parish, Irundu Sub-county, and Moses Mutaka, the victim’s father, who also serves as the LC1 Chairman of Bukyaala Village in the same parish and sub-county.
According to Micheal Kasadha, the regional spokesperson for Busoga North, the arrests were prompted by a widely circulated social media video featuring the victim and the suspects at a traditional marriage ceremony.
Preliminary investigations reveal that on March 2, 2025, Mutaka facilitated a traditional marriage ceremony at his residence, uniting Mugeere with his underage daughter. The two have since been living together as a married couple.
He said further inquiries are ongoing to establish more suspects.
2024 police statistics
According to the 2024 Police annual crime report, 12,317 children were defiled in 2024 alone, a drop from 13,000 cases reported in 2023.
The police report indicates that of the 12,317 victims, 12,009 were female juveniles and 308 were male juveniles.
At 8,021, majority of the victims of defilement in 2024 were those between the age of 15 and 17 , followed by those between nine and 14 years at 2,514 victims.
“The category of 15–17 years are mainly victims of defilement due to Adolescent age where many young girls are taken advantage of, and some are defiled in the process of doing domestic chores like collecting water and firewood especially in the rural areas when they are sent alone,” the report says.
It adds that 283 children were defiled by suspects who are HIV positive while 87 children were defiled by biological parents, and 171 children were defiled by their guardians among others.
In terms of cases, the report says a total of 8,240 cases of defilement were reported to Police in 2024, compared to 8,925 cases reported in 2023, giving a 7.7% .
In terms of regions, North Kyoga Region registered the highest number of cases of defilement in 2024 (640 cases), followed by Elgon with 629 cases, East Kyoga with 531 cases, Greater Masaka with 489 cases and Albertine with 454 cases.
In terms of districts, Buyende with 210 cases leads the pack while Sironko at 141 cases, Mayuge with 131 cases and Kibuku with 122 cases follow respectively.
