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By:
Simon Peter Emwamu | |||||||||
| Posted:
Mar,08-2023 10:37:35
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Two cousins recently caught red-handed while engaging in a sexual relationship in Eastern Uganda have been subjected to flogging in a cleansing ritual aimed at shielding the community from generational curses.
The duo from Kumi District, both in their forties, were flogged by residents of Oogoria village after they were "arrested" in an overnight raid last Saturday.
They were found in the man's house following a two-week surveillance after suspicions that they were involved in a sexual affair. Their clan forbids sex between relatives.
Villagers said they were apprehended at 2am while in the act.
Their clan heads thereafter staged a cleansing ceremony where the man and woman received several strokes of the cane. They then they paid a fine of a goat for the enforcers to have a feast to "wash away the shame they underwent on seeing their nakedness at the time of their arrest".
The duo were then forced into a grass kiln that was set ablaze. They were then allowed to flee the kiln as clan enforcers administered beatings.
According to Mr John Charles Omongole, the chairperson for Inomu Ikomion clan, the cleansing rite is for people who commit incest.
“When the fire engulfs the entire kiln, the offenders are expected to run in different directions, and during that moment, the clan soldiers will follow them with some lashes,” he explained.
Mr Omongole said that if by coincidence the two run in the same direction, that implies that the duo have not repented, so another kiln will be set up and the exercise repeated.
He said they believe that the act of torching the kiln helps burn curses, adding that the ashes remaining after are poured into the nearest stream.
He said their findings indicate that the duo started their affair last year when they were in Serere District.
Mr Omongole said that children who are born out of incest are considered outcasts and a cause of clan curses.
“As members of the Inomu Ikomion clan, we didn’t want to have such an outcome, and we had to intervene,” he said.
After the cleansing ritual, the duo were forced to make a pact that they will not repeat the offence and will observe the norms of the Teso community.
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Source:
Nation Media Group
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