Widow accuses SFC soldier
The Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) has vowed to investigate and bring to book three Special Forces Command soldiers accused of assaulting and raping a woman.
Shanitah Nampijja, 43, a widow and fresh food vendor at Nsamizi-Magala Road in Entebbe Municipality accuses Moses Bulitya, a soldier based at the SFC barracks in Nsamizi, Entebbe Municipality, of attacking her on Thursday night.
Nampijja claims she was strangled, battered and almost raped by the soldier, until she sounded an alarm that attracted locals who captured the accused.
Nampijja claims she was just a few metres from reaching her house, which is close to Nsamizi barracks, when Bulitya allegedly tried to rape her.
He apparently first hit her on the back with a stick, then held both her hands in his one hand and covered her mouth with another hand and threw her to the ground. Bulitya reportedly proceeded to tear off her panties giving her an opportunity to scream for help.
Widow accuses SFC soldier
The mother of three children aged 25, 15 and 8 years, says her attacker ran away, dropping his wallet containing his driving license near her home.
“He was found red-handed with his pants down,” Nampijja says.
Widow accuses SFC soldier
She says rescuers beat up Bulitya and pursued him as he tried to flee and was captured by residents in the trading centre in Magala.
However, she says two unknown soldiers from Nsamizi barracks ran to the scene and rescued Bulitya from the mob. The duo informed the fuming crowd that they would take both her and Bulitya to hospital for treatment.
She says the soldiers, who hired two Boda boda cyclists to transport them, instead directed the riders to stop at the gate of Nsamizi barracks where they beat her to near pulp until another of their colleagues blocked them.
“The two soldiers pushed me into the boot of the vehicle and the driver stopped at the junction near National Medical Stores because the workers had created a huge hole on Kampala Road due to construction works. So cars could not pass through…this driver pulled me out of the boot and left me on the tarmac,” she says.
The two soldiers untied Nampijja’s hands and ordered her to follow them to Entebbe Police Station where she spent the night and a day in detention.
She was released on police bond on June 24 and instructed to report to the police station every week. She has since reported six times and is expected to report next week on August 23.
Nampijja told our reporter that she is currently unable to walk or sit and is bedridden at home.
“This is my bed now. I struggle to walk and cannot sit yet. Three soldiers beat me up and wanted to kill me,” she says, “I do not know them but I hope that I’ll eventually get justice,” she says.
Brigadier General Felix Kulayige, the UPDF spokesperson, says that the army will follow up on the matter.
“If it is true that the woman was assaulted, we shall ensure the perpetrators are caught and punished accordingly because such actions taint our image,” he said.
SFC Spokesperson Major Jimmy Omara also promised to follow up on the matter.
“We will get all those soldiers and also listen to this woman so that we can know what exactly happened. Appropriate action will be taken thereafter,” he said.
In April 2020, UPDF 4th Division Court martial sentenced six soldiers to six months in jail on charges of assault and causing bodily harm to civilians at the Elegu border while enforcing the nighttime curfew.
