Gulu Chief Magistrate’s court presided over Deogratious Ssejemba has convicted a 21-year-old man for defiling an underage girl.
Patrick Ocan, a motorbike boda boda rider who operates at Tee-Tugu, Unifat stage in Bar- Dege division, Gulu Municipality had appeared before the Chief Magistrate’s court on Friday last week charged with defilement contrary to section 129 of the penal code act.
Prosecution alleges that in June this year, on several occasions, Ocan had sexual intercourse with the victim, a girl believed to be 16 years.
According to prosecution, the sexual act resulted into a pregnancy. This led to the suspect’s arrest after the girl went missing from her parents’ home in August after the matter was reported to police.
It was later discovered that the girl who can not be named was living with Ocan in their home in Pece Lukung, also within Gulu Municipality.
By the time of Ocan’s arrest, plans were underway to pay a bride price. Ocan admitted to the crime and said he had picked the girl from a bar where she was working as a waitress.
The Chief Magistrate condemned the act of defiling young girls and sentenced Ocan to a 2-year-jail term as a deterrent to would be offender.
A survey conducted in June 2013, by War Child Holland indicates that boda- boda operators in Northern Uganda are top the list of child sex offenders in the sub region.
The report also indicates that teachers, parents or guardians and truck drivers are the other offenders.
