Muhammadu Iddi Zingo, a 62-year-old man living with HIV/AIDS who is accused of having sex with his four granddaughters in Kampala’s suburbs, has been remanded by the court.
He appeared before Magistrate Jane Tibagozenka, who did not allow him to plead because the charges were capital in nature. She then remanded him to Luzira prison
The prosecution says Zingo had illegal sex with three girls, ages 2, 6, and 9, in Namuli Zone, Bukoto, a suburb of Kampala, between March 2020 and March 2022, even though he knew he has HIV.
According to a different file, the prosecution has also accused him of having illicit sex with a three-year-old girl on March 25, 2023.
Zingo faces life in prison or the death penalty upon conviction. In an interview, the mother of a three-year-old child said she reported to Kira Road Police after noticing changes in her son’s movement—changes that doctors later linked to Zingo’s spinal fluid injections.
The mother of the three-year-old said, “Since I don’t have anywhere else to put my baby and my mother lives on the same property as the suspect, who is also her brother, I always keep her there before leaving for work.”
The mother claimed she consistently brought dates, which they often ate to break their fast in the late evening.
She added that the suspect had enticed her daughter into his home on that fateful day by promising to give her more dates before defiling her.
The mother added that whereas some victims were denied the opportunity to be taken to the hospital early because they chose to remain silent, her three-year-old daughter was given post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) for six months.