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Namuganza was given 15 years
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A 34-year-old woman from Kamuli district who cut off her husband’s genitals was sentenced to 15 years in jail on Friday. The victim, her husband, protested the sentence, saying that a 40-year or lifetime sentence would have been more appropriate. Suzan Namuganza, who confessed to committing the brutal act out of anger, was sentenced by Kamuli Chief Magistrate Aisha Nabukeera in Kamuli Court. Her husband, Moses Kawubanya, described the verdict as “lenient.”
“As far as I am concerned, 15 years for the assailant who caused me a permanent scar and lifetime psychological torture is quite unfair,” said Kawubanya, 45.
Kawubanya, the Pastor of Nabirumba Pentecostal Church in Nabwigulu Sub County, Kamuli district, said he would seek redress in a higher court to ensure Namuganza receives a harsher punishment.
This was Kawubanya’s immediate reaction after the chief magistrate read out the sentence to his estranged wife.
Nabukeera advised both Namuganza and Kawubanya to appeal within 14 days if they were not satisfied with the verdict.
Namuganza, who had been on the run since committing the crime on June 5, was arrested from a shrine in Buwaga village, Bulange Sub County, Namutumba district, last Wednesday.
Prior to the attack, the couple had lived in harmony. Namuganza was the bursar of Serena Children’s Nursery & Primary School-Busana, where Kawubanya was the director. Kawubanya is also a teacher at Bugondha Primary School in Namwendwa Sub County. The couple had a glamorous event less than two years ago.
Upon arrest, Namuganza confessed to the act out of anger and ignorance, pleading for leniency from her husband and the police.
“I am pleading for leniency. Satan tempted me to do the rude act,” she told police, repeating the same statement before Justice Nabukeera on Thursday in a statement recorded at Namutumba and Kamuli Central Police Station.
Namuganza told detectives she attacked her husband's genitals because he had married another wife.
The 15-year sentence attracted protests from residents.
Kawubanya lost his genitals to jited woman
Background
On the night of the attack, neighbors rushed the victim to Kamuli General Hospital, where doctors declared the penis “dead” and amputated it. He was then referred to Mulago Hospital in Kampala for specialized treatment. Upon discharge from Mulago Hospital on June 29, Kawubanya returned home, where he received a warm welcome from crowds mobilized by neighbors and friends.
At his home village in Nabirumba, crowds lined the roadsides and gave Kawubanya a hero’s welcome, congratulating him for escaping the jaws of death. He received several gifts, including cash.
“Ladies and gentlemen, a few weeks ago, I was left for dead. I thank God that I am still alive, but my genitals are missing,” Kawubanya said.
Amid deafening chants from the crowd, he added, “I accept the disability and am ready to move on.” Kawubanya dubbed himself the counselor of castrated men in Uganda.
“I counseled myself and resolved to move on. In regard to what I went through, I have offered myself to the public, to teach in class and preach in church,” he said.
At the gathering, Nabirye, his second wife, said she will remain loving, faithful, and committed to the marriage without conjugal rights.“She cut off his genitals, accusing him of marrying me,” said the 35-year-old school teacher, adding that she is poised to maintain the marriage without the most vital marriage tool.
“Nuns survive in the convents, so I will. Moses stood by me through hardships. That’s why I cannot forsake him,” Nabirye told the chanting crowds.
