200 left homeless as clan seeks revenge

Members of the Arak Ongole clan attacked Laminlyeka village after their daughter was allegedly killed by her husband.

GULU

One person was killed and property worth millions of shillings destroyed on Thursday morning in Laminlyeka village in Lalogi Sub-county, Gulu District as a clan sought revenge for their dead daughter. They accused a 26-year-old man of allegedly killing his wife during a domestic fight and torching her hut and burning her to ashes in the process.

At about 5am, four hours after he allegedly committed the offence, the deceased’s clan members from Arak Ongole descended on his village and torched 54 grass-thatched houses, killing 10 goats, two cows as well as unspecified number of chicken.

The suspects clan mates escaped and went into hiding, It was the intervention of UPDF soldiers from a nearby detach that brought the situation under control. Relatives of the deceased expressed dismay at the tragic incident, which they say could have been avoided had she have listened to her mother.

Warned
“I told my daughter to leave this man and return home a few days ago, but she refused,” said the mother. The suspect took refuge at Opit Police Post, about seven kilometres from the place where the incident took place,
It is said by torching the house, he was attempting to commit suicide.
The death brings to six, the number of people who have died in Gulu due to arson in the past week.

Gulu District police commander Denis Odoch who confirmed the incident, saying it was a threat to the people who were settling home after spending time in internally displaced persons camps during the LRA insurgency. “At this rate if these attacks are not checked, people can return to the IDP Camps,” said Mr Odoch.

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