The Court of Appeal upheld a 32-year and five-month prison sentence handed to Masolo Siraji, who was convicted of aggravated defilement of an eight-month-old baby girl. In a judgment delivered during the Court of Appeal Criminal Session sitting in Mbale.
Justices Hellen Obura, Eva K. Luswata, and Florence Nakachwa dismissed Siraji’s appeal, in which he challenged only the sentence imposed by the High Court in Mbale.The Court of Appeal reaffirmed that appellate courts should only interfere with sentences imposed by trial courts where they are manifestly excessive, based on wrong principles, or imposed without consideration of relevant factors.
The justices found that Justice Asiimwe had properly balanced both aggravating and mitigating circumstances before arriving at the sentence.
They noted that although aggravated defilement attracts a maximum penalty of death, the trial judge had opted against both the death penalty and life imprisonment because he considered the convict capable of reform.
The appellate court further held that the trial judge had taken into account the appellant’s time on remand, reducing the effective sentence from 35 years to 32 years and five months.The justices also found that the sentence was in line with punishments imposed in comparable aggravated defilement cases, some of which attracted life imprisonment and prison terms ranging from 20 to 40 years.
“Both grounds of appeal fail, and the appeal is dismissed for lack of merit. The sentence of 32 years and five months is hereby affirmed,” the justices ruled.
Siraji had been convicted by Justice Tadeo Asiimwe in December 2018 for aggravated defilement contrary to the Penal Code Act and sentenced to 32 years and five months in prison after taking into account the three years and seven months he had spent on remand.
Investigators also recovered a blood-stained mattress and cloth from the forest where Siraji had reportedly stayed with the baby for seven days and six nights. In the appeal, Siraji, through his lawyer Shafiki Shafiki, argued that the sentence was harsh and excessive.
The defence said the trial judge did not sufficiently consider mitigating factors, including the period spent on remand and the possibility of rehabilitation.
It also argued that sentencing consistency had not been followed, citing other aggravated defilement cases where courts imposed shorter prison terms.
However, the Director of Public Prosecutions, represented by Principal Assistant DPP Carolyn Hope Nabaasa, opposed the appeal, arguing that the sentence was justified given the exceptional gravity of the offence.
The prosecution highlighted several aggravating factors, including the victim’s age of only eight months, the significant age gap between the offender, who was 39 years old, and the child, and the fact that Siraji had previously acted in a paternal role toward the infant.
State prosecutors also told the court that the child had been exposed to dangerous conditions in the forest, including cold weather, malnourishment, and mosquito bites during the week-long ordeal
