Sheikh Mohammed Mutumba
of Kyampisi Masjid Noor mosque in Kayunga District, Uganda who was earlier
reported to have ‘mistakenly’ married a man has been charged to court along
with his ‘wife’ Ms Swabullah Nabukeera. Local media outlets in Uganda over the weekend
reported the Imam was suspended from clerical duties by the mosque but the
social media comments was dominated by gay accusation.
– What Happened? –
The imam and his ‘wife’
got married two weeks after they met in the same mosque. The couple which had
not had any sexual intercourse before marriage also spent two weeks of their
marriage, without enjoying conjugal rights as the “bride” claimed she was in her
menstruation periods. Mr Mutumba said after his wife claimed to be in her
menses, he became patient and waited for her to get better. However,
Nabukeera’s luck ran out after Mr Mutumba’s neighbour claimed that his newly
wedded wife had jumped over a wall and stole their television set and clothes.
The neighbour reported the case at Kayunga Police Station before detectives
were dispatched to arrest Ms Nabukeera. “It was when he was been searched by a
female officer that the suspect had stacked clothes in the bra to hoodwink that
they were breasts. On further search, we discovered that the suspect had male
genitals,” said Mugera.
The Daily Monitor, a Ugandan online news
outlet reported that a female police officer reported the suspect as male after
conducting a body search. The newspaper report included the account of a cleric
at the imam’s mosque who said the imam needed counselling after his bride
“refused to undress while they slept.” Upon interrogation, the ‘wife’ was
confirmed to be a 27-year-old male whose real name is Richard Tumushabe and not
Swabullah Nabukeera.
The Imam has been suspended from clerical
duties by the mosque, the ‘wife’ has appeared before a court and been charged.
– Why the Imam has been charged –
The Imam for having
wedded a fellow man in the Islamic culture (Nikah) was charged with having carnal
knowledge with a person against the order of nature, and remanded to Ntenjeru
prison.
Appearing in court on Thursday, Sheikh Mutumba, 27, was not
allowed to take plea because his case can only be heard by a higher court, the
newspaper added. The Kayunga District Police Commander, Mr John Lukooto, also
confirmed that the ‘imam wife’ Tumushabe had duped a number of men who fell in
love with ‘her’ and later stole their money.
– Uganda law is against homosexuality –
Uganda constitution does not permit homosexuality (gay) and there have been efforts to enact stiffer penalties including death by hanging. It is the people’s belief that such act (gay) was imported from the West and should not be permitted.
Source: Vanguard News Nigeria.