American couple expected in court for bail hearing
The High Court in Kampala is today expected to hear an application filed by an American couple seeking to be released on bail pending investigations and hearing of their case. The two are accused of torturing their ten-year-old old fostered child.
The couple states that they are responsible citizens of the United States of America with good character who until their arrest resided at Apartment 304 Plot 29 Ntinda View Crescent in Kampala district.
Through their lawyers of AF Mpanga Advocates, the couple further noted that they have serious pre-existing medical conditions that require management outside the confines of a prison, not a threat to any investigation, offences against them are bailable and still enjoy the presumption of innocence.
“That at the age of 16, I was diagnosed with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome an inherited disorder that affects connective tissues in the body especially joints, skin and blood vessel walls,” Mackenzie’s affidavit reads in part.
Adding: “That owing to this disease, I do not and cannot have biological children of my own. The nature of the disease is such that having biological children is overly risky to the mother owing to the high possibility of rupture of blood vessels and organs such as the uterus and intestines.”
Prosecution states that the young couple between 2020 and 2022 at their residence in Naguru, recruited, transported, maintained, and tortured a vulnerable ten-year-old boy.
It’s alleged that the couple used to administer harsh punishments to the child, deprived him of his right to education, and kept him locked in a small room that also doubled as his bedroom.
They were reported to Kira Road Police Station by the child’s caretaker, alleging that the minor used to sit on a cold tiled floor without clothes and slept on a bed without a mattress and had a camera installed in his room to monitor all his movements.
