Following the disappearance of Vanessa Ntegesa, a Makerere University student who filed a rape case against her lecturer named Prof Christopher Bakuneta, the rape case against the later has been withdrawn by the Directorate of Public Prosecutions.
The decision was reached after the key witness who also happens to be the complainant failed to show up after several summons to appear in court. The prosecution was first scheduled to take place on Tuesday, November 20th, and later adjourned to today December 4th when Ntegesa failed to show up for the second time.
According to the victim’s statement, it is alleged that Bakuneta forcefully engaged in sexual intercourse with Ntegesa (who was sleeping in his garage) on 27th March 2016.
Catherine Akello, the lead prosecutor has revealed that the case was dismissed after learning that the complainant no longer stays in Makerere and the phone number she provided three years ago could not be reached.
The State attorney has therefore presented the “nolle-prosequi”, a Latin phrase meaning ‘will no longer prosecute’. This means that Prof Bakuneta is a free man and no prosecution over the same case will be carried out.
