Business paralysed after dead woman discovery at Soroti Owino market restaurant

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Business at the used cloths market, commonly known as Owino Market in Soroti city, stopped for several hours on the morning of March 9, 2026, after a woman was found dead inside a restaurant.

The deceased has been identified as Agnes, a casual worker who had been employed at the eatery. Restaurant owner Betty Ayano reportedly allowed two female workers to spend the night inside the premises.

Ayano said when she arrived in the morning to open the restaurant, she woke the workers but discovered that Agnes was unresponsive and had passed on.

Agnes’ colleague, Everline Amucu, said she also realised her co-worker had died when they woke up to prepare the restaurant for business.

A crime scene officer recording the moments inside the restaurant where the body was lying. (Credit: Godfrey Ojore)

“We slept well and locked the restaurant with two padlocks. It was only in the morning when the boss arrived that I also realised Agnes was dead,” Amucu said.

Amucu explained that the two had worked at the restaurant for about two weeks.

The deceased was a native of Moroto district, while Amucu comes from Katakwi district. The pair had travelled to Soroti city in search of casual work after dropping out of school. Before securing the job, they had reportedly been sleeping at the main hospital.

According to Amucu, she came to know the deceased from her sister's home in Adurukoit Usuk, which is her village.

The detectives found the deceased wearing a green dress with her head under the table that the customers had been eating from.

Market chairperson, who also doubles as Soroti assistant Resident City Commissioner, Musa Oroma, said the incident has shocked market leaders, noting that management had earlier banned people from sleeping in market lockups.

“When someone sleeps in a restaurant or lockup, that person’s life is at a very high risk because they can be attacked at night, and in case of any emergency there may be no one to help,” Oroma said.

He also expressed disappointment with the restaurant owner for the lack of identity of her workers.

“How do you employ a person you do not know, her parents and even her full name? You are not serious!” Oroma told Ayano.

The body was conveyed to the mortuary for a postmortem examination to establish the exact cause of death.

Officers who inspected the restaurant found that the workers had locked themselves inside while cooking beans and molokony using large charcoal stoves.

Both the restaurant owner and the surviving worker were taken to Central Police Station to record statements as investigations into the incident continue.