The Monitor, Kampala, 29 June 1996

I feared AIDS - cow lover pleads

By Kigongo Mukasa In Entebbe

Entebbe residents were amused when a young man who was found having sex with a cow claimed he was driven by fear of AIDS.

One Serwadda, son of Kayemba in Kitoro village was on the night of June 24 found half-naked, mounting a cow in one Nakamya's kraal in Kiwafu.

Nakamya narrated that she heard funny movements close to her house and, suspecting cattle thieves, stealthily moved out torch in hand only to find Serwadda behind the cow, naked and squatting. Nakamya made an alarm, attracting neighbours. Serwadda fled, leaving his trousers behind but he was arrested.

He confessed having had intercourse with the cow, but quickly added it was the fear of AIDS which forced him. He said other sex-related crimes could lead to his castration and heavier penalties.

"The man is innocent until they have their first baby -- if it resembles him, then he will be guilty," one naughty youth joked.

"Who knows, perhaps even the cow enjoyed the relationship!" quipped another. He was given a few strokes of the cane and released thereafter.