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An eight-year-old girl in the east African country of Uganda was arrested for ‘lesbianism’.

Police are said to be holding the child in custody after she was found kissing female friends, according to local news reports.

A neighbour had complained to police several times that the girl brought classmates to a farmhouse where they would “engage in inappropriate behaviour with one another”.

Officer in charge of the investigation, Catherine Wobuyaga, said the girl was in police custody and confessed her alleged crimes.

Amnesty International’s East Africa Campaigner, Victor Odero, demanded the girl be released immediately.

“The girl should be immediately and unconditionally released if she is still in detention,” he said.

“What she needs is protection and respect for her privacy, rather than being treated as a criminal.”

Uganda is one of 36 countries in Africa where homosexuality is illegal and and can carry criminal sentences of life imprisonment for those found guilty of homosexuality.

 

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