-To Be Sentenced Today
-Faces Five Years In Jail
The Ugandan maid, who made global headlines for the wrong reason, has been found guilty
of of assaulting her employer’s child and faces up to five years in jail. The maid, 22-year-old Jolly
Tumuhiirwe, pleaded guilty to assault after prosecutors decided she had
been erroneously charged with torture earlier this week.
Ladislaus Rwakafuuzi, a
lawyer for Tumuhiirwe, said she will be sentenced on Monday and faces up to
five years in jail.
The case against the nanny
has received widespread attention in Uganda because of video footage that shows
Tumuhiirwe beating, kicking and stomping on a toddler after the child vomits
food she has been forced to eat.
In court, Tumuhiirwe
apologized for her actions and alleged that she had been a victim of violence
orchestrated by the child’s mother.
Tumuhiire was initially
charged on 8 December with torture and judgement was scheduled for 12 December.
But it was postponed till 16 December. The assault charge carries a penalty of
five years in prison, whereas torture conviction, means a spell of 15 years in
jail.
The girl’s parents, who had
installed a hidden camera to film when they were at work, were shocked to see
the footage showing the maid violently hurling their daughter to the floor.
Tumuhiirwe is seen
apparently trying to force feed the child, before slapping her hard.
After the girl vomits, the
maid throws her facedown on to a hard floor.
She then kicks the child’s
face and stomach before putting her entire weight on the girl’s back, and then
drags her out of the room, apparently unconscious.
“Our baby was tortured in a
way that was unimaginable,” Eric Kamanzi, 32, the father of the 18-month old
girl, said last week
“As a family we are still
traumatised, the baby is still traumatised.”
“My main concern is my baby
girl, who was brutally beaten,” he added.
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