Rapist cut off my hand when I refused to strip – Ugandan girl tells court

A 16-year-old senior two student in Uganda’s Bududa District has told court that she was waylaid and attacked by a machete-wielding man who left her crying in pain after cutting off her hand when she refused to strip in a botched rape.

The girl whose identity we cannot reveal because she is a minor, on Wednesday told Mbale Chief Magistrate, Mr James Mawanda, during a session at Bubulo Magistrate’s Court in Manafwa District that Derrick Kuloba, 25, on the fateful evening attacked her near a forest on her way home to pick beddings and food for her sick mother who had been admitted.

“He (Kuloba) started ordering me to undress and when I refused he pulled out a machete and started cutting me. He wanted to cut my head but I tried to guard it with my right hand,” she told court during hearing of a case in which Kuloba is accused of attempted murder.

The girl said she made an alarm hoping to get help but in vain.

The girl further told the magistrate that she’s still experiencing a lot of pain and accused police and Mbale Court of trying to frustrate her case.

This is because Kuloba was released under unclear circumstances a few days after his arrest.