Police probe man over killing his mother, child over land

Police in Rukungiri District are investigating circumstances in which a 35-year-old man allegedly murdered his widowed mother alongside his child before injuring his wife and two siblings.

Police say following the attack, the suspect tried to commit suicide in the same house where he attacked his family members.

Kigezi region police spokesperson Elly Maate said “the attack was in Kyanika B Cell in Rukungiri District’s Nyarushanje Sub-county at around 5:30am.”

Maate identified the deceased as 54-year-old Harriet Jane Twesigye and her 2-year-old grandson Budori Aijuka.

“On Saturday morning, the family’s neighbour Bruno Tabaruka heard the victims raising alarm for help. He came out of his house and met the three injured people in their compound bleeding,” police said.

Maate added that: “They informed him (Tabaruka) that they were attacked and cut by their relative Darius Akanyijuka who was sleeping with them in the same house. When Tabaruka entered the house, he found Twesigye and Aijuka dead in the same bedroom with fresh deep cut wounds on their bodies.”

Akanyijuka was also found armed with a blood-stained panga but lying in a pool of blood in a separate bedroom, according to authorities.

On Saturday, authorities identified the injured including the 22-year-old wife to the suspect Adah Akanyijuka Nuwahereza, alongside two child brothers to the suspect- both aged below 15.

Kyanika B Village chairperson Francis Mugarura told Monitor that the attack victims had previously stopped the suspected killer from selling family property.

“When Akanyijuka returned from Kampala where he had been working as a casual laborer and the victims stopped him from selling family property, he developed a mental illness. I suspect that after committing the alleged crime, he tried to commit suicide by cutting himself. When the survivors recover, they will guide the police in investigating the matter,” Mugarura noted, adding that “the deceased will be buried Sunday.”

By press time, police had visited the scene and taken the bodies to Rwakabengo Health Center IV mortuary while the suspected killer was taken to Rwamahwa Health Center IV in critical condition.

Meantime, police have entered a case of double murder and attempted murder against the suspect at Rubabo Police Station in Rukungiri District.