Africa-Press – Uganda. Authorities in Apac District have broken an intimate relationship between a 13-year-old girl and her 17-year-old fiancé.
The young bride, who is a Primary Five pupil at Okutagwe Primary School in Teboke Sub-county, Apac District, had eloped with a former Primary Seven candidate of the same school.
However, when they started cohabiting, authorities swung into action and separated them.
Mr Jolly Joe Ogwang, the head teacher of Okutagwe Primary School, noted that the pupils were literally married at the watch of their parents and local leaders.
“This boy was among the best performers in my class and we are expecting him to perform well in Primary Leaving Examinations (PLE) but his parents want to ruin his future. I am so disappointed with parents who are giving away their daughters during holidays,” he said.
The Apac District police commander (DPC), Mr David Wills Ndaula, said police were hunting for the parents of the two juveniles to answer charges of aiding and abetting defilement.
“When we received the information, we went to the home of the father of the boy who had eloped with the Primary Five girl but it’s like someone had already tipped them and we found no one at home,” the DPC said in a telephone interview on Wednesday.
Mr Ndaula added that many children are being defiled within the community yet parents are not reporting the matter to police.
“Village leaders are conniving with the parents to kill defilement cases and that is why there are many teenage mothers within the community,” he added.
Mr Sam Opira, the Apac secretary for education and health, warned parents against aiding and abetting defilement.
“We have learnt that many defilement cases are happening in the villages and in Teboke Sub-county in particular, it is very common and LCs have turned it into their business. We are not going to sleep. We shall follow them and arrest all of them and make sure they are prosecuted,” he said.
Ms Proscovia Acam, the Apac deputy Resident District Commissioner (RDC), “appealed to parents to keep their children well during the festive season so that they can continue with their studies in the New Year.”
Child marriages are on the rise in the Lango Sub-Region- an issue often linked to high poverty levels.
Last year, data obtained from the nine districts that make up Lango Sub-region indicated that more than 23,000 teenage girls visited the health facilities in the area for antenatal care services.
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