Man kills ex-lover, surrenders to police

By Patrick Okidi
 
A jilted man handed himself to police after he killed his former lover in a senseless fashion, an act said to be of vengeance.

The grisly incident happened on Sunday in Pader district when Joseph Okwera, 28, waylaid his victim, Eunice Alanyo, 23, at her home.

Alanyo is reported to have returned from a volunteers’ assignment in Kalongo Town Council. Worn out from the day's work, she drew water from a drum in the compound and headed to a bath shelter, a few meters from their family home to have a bath.

Little did she know that her ex-lover Okwera was hiding behind the shelter, waiting to pounce.

“The boy attacked her and stabbed her five times with a knife, and ran away, leaving my daughter in a pool of her own blood,” said Rev Robinson Odinga Oginga, the Vicar of Pader-Kilak Vicarage in Kitgum Diocese.

Alanyo later died upon reaching Pader health Centre IV, while Okwera later that night handed himself to the police in Pader and confessed to the crime.

'Accept me back or I kill you'

The slain woman had just completed a Diploma course at Uganda Christain University Mukono, and was volunteering at Christian Counseling fellowship (CCF) Pader, where she helped child mothers who had returned to school cope with education.

Her former boyfriend, Okwera, had earlier threatened her, warning that if she does not accept him back into her life, he would kill her.

“We arrested Okwera and released him on bond just last week for threatening violence, now he has killed this girl. We have him in our custody at Pader Central Police Station,” said Ambrose Sabiiti, the District Police Commander of Pader.

Okwera’s case is registered under CRB 149/2014 (murder) at the same station. The police say this was the second such murder since 2010 in Pader.

“In 2010, a boy paid school fees for a girl and when she finished her studies, she disappointed him by falling in love with another person. That girl was later burnt to death,” said Jimmy Okema, the regional police publicist for Aswa region.

Okema has called for calm between the families of Alanyo and Okwera, urging that the confessed killer will face the arm of law if found guilty of committing the crime.

The MP for Pader CD Lowila also urged the police to leave no stone unturned in their investigation so that the suspect is punished if found guilty.

She urged parents to be close to their children and advised them to desist from using violence to settle differences arising from a relationship.