The women in Airfield cell, Bardege Layibi Division in Gulu City are reportedly being raped as they go to fetch water.
Reports from the councilor 4 representing the people of Airfield cell, Bardege Layibi Division in Gulu City, James Okello, indicate that they have received a number of reports from the community during meetings expressing that they go through a lot when they go to fetch water.
Okello says the spot where these women are raped from is a farm belonging to the diocese of Northern Uganda and normally the people from his cell go fetching water from as far as mama cave and in between there is the farm where the wrong doers always hide.
Okello says that there could be other rape cases that are not reported by the members of the public due to fear of stigma because when you move along that road you find abandoned knickers and bras which is an indication that something bad is happening.
Okello adds that some times they even find stolen items hidden in the said farm, for instance they recently got household items hidden in there including a motorcycle.
Okello asks the women of his constituency to use the water points close to them and avoid going that side because it is risky for them.
In Uganda, the punishment for rape is severe, under Ugandan law (the Penal Code Act and the Sexual Offences Act), a person convicted of simple rape is liable to a maximum penalty of life imprisonment. For aggravated rape, the maximum penalty upon conviction is death.
By Becky Ekwany
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