The former headteacher of Vikings high school in Kalaki district, Marcel Domniano Adunya is in police custody in Soroti city for allegedly sodomizing students.
He was arrested on Monday afternoon after being found with four male students at his home in Kengere Ward in Soroti. It is alleged that Adunya has been making advances and sodomizing a number of students from Vikings high school, something that led to his expulsion earlier in June.
However, after the termination of his contract, Adunya reportedly continued engaging students of the school in unlawful sexual acts. His luck ran out when the parents of some students sought the whereabouts of their children who had reported back to school for the holiday program.
The parents started tracing for the lost students until Monday when they found them at Adunya’s home. During his arrest, Adunya reportedly claimed that the four students were part of his class for the holiday program. Some of the students told journalists that Adunya trailed them from school to their villages while making advances for the unlawful sexual act.
They claimed that Adunya would promise to pay their fees up to the university, and buy them fancy phones and gifts to lure them into acts against nature. The students, whose identities have been concealed for their own safety, said that Adunya would use his office, washrooms, or his car to sodomize students at school.
“This is a man who can call you during late hours, you don’t find him calling you during day time. He always calls during late time from 11 pm onwards and when he calls you, he first begins by telling you those good words about academics then after he changes,” said one of the students.
A boda-boda cyclist in Soroti city told journalists that Adunya cornered him one night when he rode with him to his house. The cyclist, whose name has been withheld to protect his family, says that the renowned academician lured him inside his house around midnight and attempted to sexually assault him.
Charles Ewou, a security guard at Vikings high school, says that Adunya ‘hated’ girls and any boy who resisted his advances. He notes that the head teacher would stay at school past 11:00 pm and preferred working from his car. According to Ewou, most of the students and teachers who resisted and attempted to report Adunya to the authorities were either suspended or chased away from the school.
Abel Opolot, the director of Vikings says that he terminated Adunya’s contract with the school in June after receiving complaints from parents and students about his alleged involvement in sodomy. Opolot says that although Adunya had a record of sodomizing male students, his case was never taken to court.
“It is indeed very unfortunate that this gentleman allegations seem to indicate that has been sodomising boy students in the school. This is an abomination, this is a horrible thing, this is against the laws of nature, it is against the laws of Uganda, it is a crime against students, it is even against the professional ethics of a teacher. I, therefore, appeal to the police and indeed our judicial system to ensure that this matter is pursued to its logical conclusion,” said Opolot. Adunya first worked at Jerressar high school before joining Halcyon high school. However, his image has been tainted with similar allegations in all the schools he has taught in Soroti. Oscar Gregg Ageca, the East Kyoga police spokesperson, said that they are investigating the allegations against Adunya. He said that the boys found at Adunya’s home have been subjected to a medical examination before the matter is taken to court.
