What you need to know:
- On Monday, local leaders urged closure of the parlor associated with same-sex activities.
Four people are being detained at Njeru Police Station in Buikwe District following a raid on a massage parlour that is alleged to be offering gay and lesbian sex services
Hellen Butoto, the Ssezibwa Region police spokesperson, says all the suspects are employees of Cloud 9 Massage and Chill Outs in Bukaya West Zone, Njeru Municipality in Buikwe District.
Ms Butoto said the quartet was arrested following a tip-off to the area defence secretary by a worker at the massage parlour, who was concerned by the alleged illegal activities at the facility.
“A female informant tipped the area defence secretary that suspected acts of homosexuality were being carried out, especially with Indians as their most-preferred clients,” she said on Monday.
Ms Butoto added: “This sparked off a misunderstanding between the informant and her boss, who later ordered men to undress her, after which she was reportedly thrown outside the gate, naked.”
According to Butoto, the informant told authorities that her boss has an artificial phallus (dildo), which she has allegedly been using on female workers, and later posts recordings on TikTok and other social media platforms.
The informant told police that she was three months ago trafficked from Mbarara City to Buikwe District after being promised Shs500,000 to work in a massage parlour, sauna and salon, but she was instead lured into lesbianism and prostitution.
Ms Butoto says, the informant told the police that she has not received her salary for the past three months despite allegedly “serving over five clients a day.”
“A police raid on the massage parlour uncovered a dildo, two packets of shisha flavour, bottles of oils used for either massage or as a lubricant for anal sex, two video cameras and a tripod (camera stand),” Ms Butoto added.
She condemned the acts – confirming that the suspects will be taken to Court for prosecution after investigations are complete.
Locals like Njeru Municipality councillor Patricia Dorothy Chandiru urged for the closure of the parlour.
“Although they paid the license and all revenue, we ask the police to shut the place down because residents had first complained about the workers’ indecent dress code,’’ she said.
Bukaya West Village chairperson Jimmy Okee revealed that when the place opened early this year, it was inspected and the proprietor convinced authorities that it was for massage, but he is surprised to hear about the illicit activities that have allegedly been taking place inside.
Njeru Central Division chairperson Michael Odeba clarified that the license which was issued to the place was to operate as a massage parlour and a bar.
Uganda has one of the world’s toughest anti-LGBTQ laws, which attracts maximum penalties for aggravated homosexuality among other transgressions.
