15 held in Mbarara over mob justice

Mar 25, 2008

POLICE in Mbarara have arrested 15 people suspected to be part of a mob, which killed two people on Easter Monday.Residents of Kihangire village in Mwizi sub-county, said on Easter Sunday, four brothers, believed to practise witchcraft, strangled their aunt, Violet Kemirere, 42, removing her jaw and

By Kyomuhendo Muhanga

POLICE in Mbarara have arrested 15 people suspected to be part of a mob, which killed two people on Easter Monday.Residents of Kihangire village in Mwizi sub-county, said on Easter Sunday, four brothers, believed to practise witchcraft, strangled their aunt, Violet Kemirere, 42, removing her jaw and tongue.

The brothers reportedly dumped Kemirere’s body in a nearby banana plantation.

The residents said they became suspicious after an unusually large number of dogs assembled in the plantation. An investigation discovered they were feasting on Kemirere’s remains.

“We found the body lying in a pool of blood,” said one resident.

A witness said after the recovery of Kemirere’s body, over 20 villagers descended on the four brothers, clobbering them with sticks and any object they could find.

Two of the brothers escaped and reported to a nearby Police station but Edward Kahororo, 45 and Dennis Hororo, 25, were killed. The mob buried them in a nearby pit latrine.

The district Police commander, Ivan Nkwasiibwe, said the bodies were retrieved and taken to Mbarara Hospital for postmortem examination.
He said four goats, five hens and two pigs belonging to the suspects were slaughtered. The 15 suspects will be charged with murder.

(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});