Wakilii

Uganda v Pastor Kigozi Martin (Criminal Case 294 of 2024)

High Court · [2024] UGHC 1335 · 2024 Acquittal Entered AI-generated summary ↓ Download Pin to watchlist Add to matter
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
First instance criminal trial in High Court for aggravated defilement
Decision
Accused acquitted and released from custody

Observed later treatment

No later-treatment classification is recorded for this judgment.

Citator coverage is limited to judgments in the Wakilii corpus and source-matched treatment records. Absence of a signal is not an assertion that the case remains good law.

AI-generated summary. This summary was generated by AI from the full text of the judgment. It may contain errors or omissions—always read the source judgment before relying on it.

Holding

The High Court acquitted the accused of aggravated defilement. While the prosecution proved the victim was below 14 years, it failed to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the accused performed a sexual act on her. The accused's testimony that he was alone with the child for less than a minute and that she left with her mother without crying cast reasonable doubt on the prosecution case.

Outcome

Accused acquitted and released from custody

Facts

On 27 January 2023 at Njagalabwami village, Nakaseke district, the accused was alleged to have performed a sexual act on K.S., a girl aged 4-5 years. The victim's mother testified she found her daughter crying after fetching water for a neighbour. The child said a man had done something to her and pointed to the accused who was seated removing maize from cobs at the old woman's home. Medical examination showed mild tenderness and partial hymen perforation. The accused did not deny being at the location that day but stated he was passing through to pray for a sick person, spent about 12 minutes at the old woman's home, and was alone with the child for less than a minute. He testified the child was fine when she left with her mother and showed no signs of distress.

Issues

  1. Whether the victim was below fourteen years of age as prescribed by section 129(4)(a) of the Penal Code Amendment Act 2007.
  2. Whether a sexual act was performed on the victim.
  3. Whether the accused participated in performing the sexual act.

Orders

  • The accused person is acquitted of the offence of aggravated defilement.
  • The accused person is released from custody unless lawfully held in connection with some other offence.

Rules and key headnotes

Aggravated Defilement — Burden of Proof — Reasonable Doubt
In a prosecution for aggravated defilement, the prosecution must prove beyond reasonable doubt the victim's age, performance of a sexual act, and the accused's participation; where the accused's testimony that he was alone with the victim for less than a minute and that she left without crying casts reasonable doubt on the prosecution case, the accused must be acquitted.
Medical Evidence — Aggravated Defilement — Sufficiency
Medical evidence of mild tenderness and partial hymen perforation resulting from blunt trauma does not necessarily lead to a conclusion that the victim was defiled; such evidence must be corroborated by other credible evidence to prove the offence beyond reasonable doubt.

Legislation cited (2)

Full judgment

↓ Download PDF

The original judgment as reported. Read the original PDF before relying on any passage.

Uganda v Pastor Kigozi Martin (Criminal Case 294 of 2024) [2024] UGHC 1335 (28 August 2024)
Source: this page presents Wakilii’s issue analysis and metadata for a publicly reported Ugandan judgment. Any AI-generated summary is marked as such. Judgment text is sourced from the Uganda Legal Information Institute (ulii.org). Wakilii is not affiliated with ULII.