Two Rukungiri teenagers arrested over killing colleague in kickboxing

Two teenagers accused of assaulting their colleague to death in Rukungiri District have been arrested and face murder charges, police said.

Kigezi region police spokesperson Elly Maate said the incident happened Friday afternoon at Rwenkuba Hill in Kagashe Cell, Bugangari Sub-county in Rukungiri District.

The deceased has since been identified as 18-year-old Derrick Niwahereza, a resident of Bugorogoro Cell, Nyakagyeme Sub-county in the same district.

Police on Saturday named a 16-year-old youngster and a 14-year-old boy as the murder suspects.

“It's alleged that on April 19 while at Rwenkuba Hill, three teenagers grazing cattle agreed to start playing a local kickboxing game. Shortly thereafter, the 16-year-old teen kicked Niwahereza and he fell down in pain,” police noted.

“Then, Niwahereza picked a stone and used it to hit him on the chest. In turn, the 16-year-old picked a sharp grazing stick from the boy and used it to hit Niwehereza on the head before he (Niwahereza) fell down and died,” Maate explained.

Maate added that both suspects left Niwahereza helpless while unconscious and bleeding from the head and went to their respective homes.

The incident was reported to Internal Security Officer Mini Onzo by Amston Rukundo, a local farmer who was attending to his garden located at the bottom of the same hill.

“Police visited the scene and found the victim dead. The body was taken to Rwakabengo Health Center III for postmortem and the two suspects were arrested to help the police in its investigations after which the case of murder by assault was recorded at Rukungiri police station,” Maate told journalists.

Rukungiri District LCV chairman Geoffrey Kyomukama and the district Community Development Officer Posius Nemesius Agaba attributed increased criminal cases involving teenage offenders to drug abuse, school dropout, redundancy and parental failure to instill morals in children that spend much time watching films and videos of people fighting each other.

“While we register about 20 cases of domestic violence every week, we also register an average of 4 criminal cases involving juveniles. We have embarked on a sensitization campaign on FM radios and community meetings encouraging parents to ensure that their children stay in schools and warning them against acts of drug abuse and reckless lifestyles,” Agaba remarked.