A 16-year-old is demanding justice after a man whose rape attempt she resisted inflicted severe and life-changing machete wounds on her including cutting off her hand.
Evelyn Namasopo is a senior two student in Bududa District, Uganda.
She narrated her ordeal to Mbale Chief Magistrate, Mr. James Mawanda, during a session at Bubulo Magistrate’s Court in Manafwa District on Wednesday, April 7.
According to the victim, the suspect Derrick Kuloba, 25, attacked her near a forest on her way home to pick beddings and food for her sick mother who had been admitted.
“He (Kuloba) started ordering me to undress and when I refused, he pulled out a machete and started cutting me. He wanted to cut my head but I tried to guard it with my right hand,” she told the court.
Kuloba has been accused of attempted murder.
Evelyn recounted how she screamed for help on the day of the incident but it never came.
The victim accused police and Mbale Court of trying to frustrate her case because Kuloba was released under unclear circumstances a few days after his arrest.
“I need justice from this court because I’m now disabled. I’m not able to do any day-to-day activities like I used to. I can’t even write,” she lamented.
The prosecution told the court that Kuloba, a resident of Nabooti Village, Nakatsi Sub-County in Bududa District, on July 4, 2020, armed with a machete, waylaid the victim and attacked her before chopping off her right hand in a botched rape
She also sustained several injuries on other parts of the body. The prosecution presented three witnesses; the victim, her cousin and uncle.
The case was adjourned to April 8, 2021, when the Prosecution is expected to present more witnesses in court.
The victim’s mother Juliet Khainza asked that the suspect be made to foot her daughter’s medical bills, pending judgment, saying her family could no longer afford them.
“We had waited for this case to start but in vain. I want my daughter to get justice,” she added.
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