What you need to know:
- Cultural cleansing allowed for man convicted of bestiality.
A 22-year-old man has been convicted and cautioned by the Chief Magistrate’s Court in Pader District after pleading guilty to having sexual intercourse with a goat, a crime considered “against the order of nature” under Uganda’s Penal Code.
Acting Chief Magistrate Martin Kirya cautioned Emmanuel Ocen at his own plea on the charge of carnal knowledge of a goat under section 134(b) of the Penal Code Act.
Court records revealed that the incident occurred on October 1, 2025, at Abilin Nino Village, Angangura Sub-County, Pader District.
Ocen gave a detailed confession before the court, admitting he had mistaken the animal for his girlfriend.
“It is true; I had sexual intercourse with the goat thinking I was having sex with my girlfriend,” he told the court on Friday.
Ocen explained that he worked for a local traditional healer, and a female visitor came seeking the doctor.
“I became tempted and felt love for her, I launched my manifesto, she accepted, and agreed to have sex with me. We then went to the Bush and had coitus,” he recounted.
According to Ocen, a friend, Samuel Oloya, arrived during the act and questioned him: “Why are you having sex with a goat?”
Only then did Ocen realize he was holding a she-goat, brown with black patches and a white belt.
Senior State Attorney Ivan Kyazze presented evidence, including a police Form 24 and a veterinary report by Dr Birungi Maureen Grace.
The goat had recently given birth and showed signs of trauma, including difficulty standing, continuous bleating, reddening, and bruises in the vaginal area, consistent with sexual penetration.
Mr Kyazze noted the maximum penalty for the offence is life imprisonment but requested leniency because Ocen was a first-time offender.
Defence counsel Eunice Lakaraber described her client as remorseful and cooperative.
She requested a non-custodial sentence to allow him to undergo culturally prescribed cleansing rituals.
Elders appeared before the court to outline the traditional process, which requires purchasing a she-goat, performing rituals at the scene, and consuming the goat in a ceremonial act.
The process is meant to restore spiritual and cultural balance disrupted by the offence.
Delivering his judgment, Magistrate Kirya called the case “a true definition of an abnormal mind which clearly is a cultural abomination.”
He cautioned Ocen, allowing him the option to participate in the cleansing rituals if he wished, noting the customs were permissible under local tradition.
The magistrate emphasized that while the act was culturally abnormal, it did not warrant imprisonment in this first-offence case.
Ocen was released on caution, and the court advised him to comply with both legal and cultural measures to atone for his actions.
Source: Daily Monitor.
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