Mob lynches man for killing wife, son

KAKUMIRO. Grief and shock on Friday gripped residents of Kyakachwende Village, Katatemwa Parish in Kakindo Sub-county, Kakumiro District, after a 25-year-old man allegedly killed his wife and his one-year-old step son.
Joseph Kukundakwe, a causal labourer, allegedly slit the throats of Rosett Tumuhirwe, 37, and Brian Ampumpaire with a machete and closed them inside the house. The duo had been married for 45 days.
The District Police Commander, Mr Najib Waiswa, said the suspect, after committing the crime, went into hiding but residents mounted a search, found him and beat him up before police intervened.
He was taken to Kakindo Health Centre IV where he was pronounced dead shortly after.

Adrine Kirabo, 14, a daughter of Tumuhirwe, said she went to check on her mother on Saturday only to be repelled by a foul smell at the door of the house.
On entering, she found the mutilated bodies of her mother and brother.
“I immediately called my grandmother who made an alarm that attracted residents,” Kirabo narrated.

Police appeal
Police conducted a postmortem before handing over the bodies of the deceased to relatives for burial.
Mr Waiswa condemned the act and urged residents to always use local leaders in resolving domestic misunderstandings.
“People should not use violence to solve conflicts. People can use their neighbours, local leaders or even go to church rather than killing somebody,” he said.

The sub-county chairperson, Mr Micheal Yombo, who had employed the two, said the man wrote a will before attempting to commit suicide.
“The man, after killing his wife and child, attempted to take poison. He also wrote his will, detailing why he had killed his step son and wife,” Mr Yombo said.
The village chairperson, Mr Emmanuel Serunjogi, revealed that he had on several occasions received complaints of misunderstandings from the couple.

Recent incident
Rising cases. Five children of a businessman at Kahompo Village, Bufunjo Sub-county in Kyenjojo District were on March 13 hacked to death by unidentified assailants. The deceased were all children of Joseph Tumwebaze, a businessman and resident of Kahompo village. Police say the assailants hacked all the children to death, beat up the wife before they carried and dumped her in River Kahompo from where she was later rescued by the residents.

According to detectives, Tumwebaze had travelled to Kasese District at the time his home was attacked. Police later arrested five people in connection with the murder. Investigations later pointed to a family wrangle that dates back in 2012.

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