Overview
- Police in Arua arrested the pair on February 18 after neighbors reported they were seen kissing in public, with officers saying they found them “red-handed.”
- The women, identified by police as a 22-year-old entertainer and a 21-year-old unemployed colleague, were released on police bond and have not been charged as investigations continue.
- A police statement said the alleged conduct began last year.
- The incident is reported as among the first known arrests linked to the 2023 Anti-Homosexuality Act.
- Rights advocates say enforcement is fueling harassment, blackmail and extortion, and note the law has faced international condemnation alongside an older colonial-era ban, with a World Bank funding freeze later lifted in mid-2025.