Grief as thugs kill 9 family members
Detectives inspect a hole thought to have been drilled in the victims’ house in Kanabulemu village, Rakai District by the assailants. The village is yet to recover from the shock of rising yesterday morning to find nine members of the same family killed. PHOTO BY PASCAL LUTABI
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Murder most foul. Teenage girl looks on as thugs hack her father, mother and seven relatives in an incident that has left a village in Rakai District in shock
A 15-year-old girl was being treated for shock yesterday after hiding under her bed and watching as thugs hacked and sliced the throats of her father and mother. Seven other relatives were killed in their beds in the Sunday night murder that has shocked residents of Kanabulemu Village in Kyebe Sub-county, Rakai District.
Unknown assailants broke into the home of Steven Mugambe, a prominent pastor with the local Kyebe Pentecostal Church, and hacked him, his wife Noowerina Nalunya, and seven visiting relatives to death.
Police detectives investigating the murder suspect that the deceased persons were chloroformed before they were brutally murdered. Police identified the other dead as Jane Nakiwala, Bena Nakivumbi, Max Nakirijja, Maria Nakajugo, Christine, Kenny and a one Jane.
The attackers dug a hole through one of the walls of Mugambe’s house through which they entered in the night. They then proceeded to hack the sleeping occupants and slash their throats with sharp machetes, police said.
The pastor’s son also survived the attack. Ronald Mbaziira survived because his father had instructed him to keep the family shop that night and he was away at the time of the attack.
Mbaziira’s sister was unharmed in the attack.
Lucky girl narrates ordeal
A shocked Mbaziira told the Daily Monitor that he reached home at around 6am to find neighbours wailing and screaming. He found his parents and relatives in the house lying in pools of blood.
Residents said the shocking incident is the first of its kind in the area. They could not recall a fight or grudge Pastor Mugambe’s family had with other families in the area.
However, some who spoke to the Daily Monitor said they had previously overheard Pastor Mugambe complain of receiving death threats from unknown people who told to abandon his Pentecostal faith.
Police said they were investigating reports that the family was involved in a land wrangle.
Residents accused the police of not deploying enough officers in the region. No arrests had been made by press time yesterday.
A police sniffer dog deployed at the scene failed to find a scent to follow, prompting police to invite other forensic experts from Kampala to help with the investigation.
