A Police inquest is underway in Mayuge District after a 32-year-old woman was allegedly hacked to death by her husband in Buwanda village, Malongo sub-county.
The deceased, who has been identified as Fatuma Nabirye, is alleged to have been locked in the bedroom by her husband, before being hacked multiple times with a machete.
The Busoga East Police spokesperson, Ms Diana Nandaula, said residents heard the wife screaming, but none of them could gain access to the bedroom which had been locked from inside, while others dismissed it as a “simple domestic fight”.
“We were told that people heard the woman screaming as the fight went on, but they could not intervene because this man had locked the house from inside,’’ Ms Nandaula said on Wednesday.
Police say the husband, who is fresh from serving a two-year sentence, had three wives, including the deceased, prior to his sentencing.
Ms Nandaula said preliminary investigations suggest that the husband, who is currently on the run, accused the deceased of committing adultery during his incarceration.
Ms Nandaula said after realising that the woman was unresponsive, the suspect, with the help of her co-wife, lifted her out of the house and dropped her body in a cassava garden where it was recovered on Wednesday morning.
The suspect’s accomplice has been arrested to help in investigations, according to Ms Nandaula, who has attributed the death to domestic violence which she says is rampant in Busoga East region and topped last year’s crime list.
Mr Rogers Mugabi, a brother of the deceased, however, alleges that the suspect was avenging the two-year jail sentence he served for reportedly stealing his mother-in-law’s cow.
He said: “We believe that this man killed our sister because he was found guilty of stealing our mother’s cow and jailed.”
Mr Mugabi says the deceased had not officially brought the suspect to the parents during their year-long childless relationship.
The Malongo sub-county councilor to the district, Mr David Zijja, condemned the crime, saying such acts are not only criminal, but “ashame the sub-county”. “People should stop acts of murder in this sub-county because it’s a shame and crime to the residents,” he said.
In a related incident, Police in Mayuge District have commenced investigations into the mysterious death of an unidentified man, whose body was discovered in Paradise Lodge in Lugolole trading centre, Baitambogwe sub-county.
Ms Agnes Aanyu, the District Police Commander, said the deceased checked in with a colleague but was found alone dead on Wednesday morning, adding that his body has been taken to Mayuge Health Centre IV for an autopsy.
