How Bukwo LC5 chairman trafficked, defiled 16-year-old student

The Directorate of CID is investigating circumstances under which a 16-year-old female juvenile was allegedly trafficked and defiled by Bukwo District LC5 Chairman, Julius Chelimo.

Preliminary investigations indicate that the victim is a secondary school student in one of the schools in Sebei region.

It is alleged that the victim left her parents’ home in Bukwo on November 28, 2021, and came for holidays in Kampala.

However, while in Kampala, it is said she went and visited a friend called Anthony Amidu, where she was lured into a friendship, by the suspect Chelimo.

According to police spokesperson Fred Enanga, the suspect, in connivance with another person, picked the victim from Kireka and transported her to Mbale where they slept together.

"It was on the June 5, 2022, that the victim was picked by a one Amisi Latif, at Usafi market and linked up with the suspect who was meeting for the victim at Shell Petrol Station in Kireka. He further transported them to Mbale, where the two (suspect and victim) slept at Starlight Hotel," Enanga said.

The victim, however, managed to sneak out of the hotel on the May 7, 2022 and traveled back to her parents home in Bukwo.

Victim disappears again

Barely two weeks after sleeping in Mbale with the chairman, it is said that the student disappeared again from her parents home on May 18, 2022.

However, the victim was later traced to the home of Doreen Chesang, a relative to the chairman, before being reunited with her family.

The victim was once again trafficked from their home, between May 2022 and August 24, 2022, and this time harbored at the home of the suspect's cousin sister, Caroline Chemutai, in Budaka.

It is said that the suspect would occasionally pick her up, take her to a lodge and drop her home later.

In a Tuesday statement, Enanga noted that the matter had since attracted public interest hence the police intervention.

"The matter has attracted public interest. We are treating the matter as a priority and will ensure the rights of the victim are protected,"Enanga said.

He added that police is currently on a serious manhunt for the Chairman LC, who wields a lot of power and influence in Bukwo district and Sebei region.

Furthermore, the police mouthpiece appealed to the public and relatives to assist police in pointing out the whereabouts of Chelimo.

Enanga says, Chelimo will face charges of aggravated defilement of a 16-year-old, student and subsequent acts of aggravated trafficking.