Search on for killers of Kabowa maid, baby

By Eddie Ssejjoba and Jeff Andrew Lule            

KAMPALA - Police is still hunting for assailants who made their way into a home in Kabowa, a Kampala suburb, and stabbed to death a one-year-old baby boy (pictured down right) and a housemaid on Friday.

The incident, one of the most brutal in the recent past in the area, happened in broad daylight, an eyewitness said.

The motive and the actual number of the killers who are at large remain unclear. That means there is also a possibility that it could have been one individual.

But by the manner in which the grisly murders were carried out, the killers left all reasons to believe that they acted out of some sorts of incomprehensible anger.

The deathly picture at the scene of crime was as horrific as it was shocking.

Baby Sean Byaruhanga’s lifeless body was found dumped in the bathroom with bloody cuts in the chest, stomach – intestines peeking out – and the eyes were almost plucked out of their sockets.

Police says the housemaid, 17-year-old Vicky Atim must have desperately tried to run away from the attackers. It was hardly two months since she had started working for her employers.

Blood footmarks on the floor towards the exit suggested that she attempted to flee for dear life but was hit several times as evidenced by multiple deep wounds on her still body.true

Police CID officer-in-charge at Katwe police station, Herbert Wanyoto, who remained perplexed over what the motive behind the murders could have been, said the killers picked only a DVD player and a flat monitor.

The incident occurred at about 2.00pm on Friday in St. Anne Zone in Kabowa, Rubaga division.

The employers and parents of the two deceased, who both work in the bank, were away for work at the time of the attack.

The message

But a more haunting revelation was found inside the home of Solomon Byaruhanga, an employee of Barclays Bank and his wife, Phiona Wanzusi, who works with Standard Chartered Bank.

After accomplishing their heinous mission, the murderers took time off to write on the wall, just below Byaruhanga’s wife’s portrait.

“LEAVE MY HUSBAND ALONE, NYABO” were the words written in an ink marker.

The Katwe CID police chief said that police will use that written message as a key element in their investigation into the murders.

He said police is picking up information from the neighbours of the grieving family especially to find out how the assailants managed to gain access of the highly protected house. It has a high perimeter fence and the gate is metallic.

Byaruhanga told police he left home at about 12.30pm and his wife earlier in the morning of that day.

Police say a neighbor’s housemaid said she heard some wails from the attacked house.  That was less than two hours after the home’s owner had left for work.

“A maid in the neighborhood told us that she heard some noise, someone appealing for help but when she called back, a male voice just replied in Luganda that everything was fine,” Wanyoto explained.

Police has sealed off the home, saying they were still processing and analyzing the scene but no arrests had been made yet.

 Byaruhanga and his wife relocated to their relatives' place in Najjanankumbi, along Entebbe highway until police finalize with their investigations.

One of the relatives said the duo is living in confusion.

‘They were too traumatized by the incident and unable to talk to people, she explained. “You cannot imagine what the motive of these killers was. They mutilated the baby’s body with unbelievable anger.”

Police dogs tried to trail the assailants but moved some distance up to the main road but gave up, indicating that the killers must have walked some distance from the scene of crime before picking up a bodaboda or a vehicle.

The one-year-old toddler was buried at Seguku on Saturday but preparations were still underway to take the body of the maid to her home in Agago district.  

The area LC1 chairman, Ben Mugerwa said he had called for a village meeting to discuss security in the area and during which the police will talk to residents.

He cautioned area residents to take precautionary security measures by alerting authorities on ‘anything’ unusual at each neighbor’s home.