Mbarara – An HIV positive Ugandan soldier has been sentenced to 10 years imprisonment for raping an orphan and underage girl.
The 2nd Division Court Martial in Makenke, Mbarara, in western Uganda, presided over by Colonel Geoffrey Mujuni Rwamunyonyore, on Wednesday sentenced the Private to 10 years imprisonment for defiling an under-age girl, Uganda's Chimp Reports reported.
The soldier was charged with aggravated defilement as he was HIV-positive and had intentionally passed the disease on to the 14-year-old girl.
According to the prosecution, the soldier had engaged in unlawful carnal knowledge of the girl in March 2015 near the Makenke barracks.
The court further heard that efforts to rehabilitate the victim had proved futile as she was an orphan staying with her aunt in the barracks and was unable to attend school which had forced her into prostitution.
The prosecution asked for a long sentence for the accused in order to keep him away from other young girls. However, the defence pleaded for a lenient sentence on grounds that the defendant was a first-time offender and a family bread winner.