Girl’s body found inside septic tank
Jan 31, 2010
THE Police at the weekend recovered the body of a young woman dumped in a septic tank of a house in a Kampala suburb and arrested a businessman, suspected to be her lover, in connection with the grisly incident.
By Steven Candia and Eddie Ssejjoba
THE Police at the weekend recovered the body of a young woman dumped in a septic tank of a house in a Kampala suburb and arrested a businessman, suspected to be her lover, in connection with the grisly incident.
Two other people, a friend of the suspect and a gardener, have also been arrested.
The decomposing body of 26-year-old Brenda Karamuzi was discovered in the tank of the house, rented by Tom Nkurunjira, in Muyenga, an upscale Kampala suburb.
The two bed-roomed house with a sitting room, kitchen and two bathrooms, sits on an expansive compound overlooking Lake Victoria, ringed off by a wall fence. It is on a block shared with another tenant identified by the Police as Abdul Aziz Kakooza.
The bizarre discovery was made on Saturday morning by a man winding up a fumigation exercise. Contracted by Kakooza, the man had just finished fumigating the house and was on his way out when he realised that he had not fumigated the septic tank.
He informed Kakooza and was given the go-ahead, only to be treated to a rude shock upon removing the tank cover and being confronted with a body floating in the water.
Terrified, he notified Kakooza who in turn alerted the Police. The body was retrieved at about 2:00pm by the Police fire brigade. It had a deep depression in the forehead, suggesting a hard blow by a blunt object.
Detectives attached to Kabalagala Police station took statements from Kakooza and the fumigator. Another statement was taken from Fred Ssempija, the shamba man who doubled as a sentry. He was later detained.
Police spokesperson Judith Nabakooba yesterday said they were treating it as a case of murder. “Investigations are in the early stages but we are treating it as such.â€
The key suspect, Nkurunjira, was later arrested at Kabalagala Police station as he rushed there to rescue a friend who had tricked him by saying he was arrested in connection with a traffic offence.
The friend had arrived at the house asking for Nkurunjira. He was detained by the Police and used later as a bait.
Detectives had to break into the house on Saturday after consulting with the landlord. Blood stains were found on the wall, floor and on a cushion although detectives said it was clear that there had been an effort to clean up the place.
The Police suspect that the body could have been dumped in the septic tank at night and through the back door.
A further search of the premises revealed three handbags containing a Visa ATM and NSSF cards, shoes and other items belonging to the deceased. The bags were found in the ceiling.
A red Freelander Land Rover was parked in the compound with the driver’s seat reclined. In the co-driver’s seat was an army rain coat.
Neighbours told the Police that Nkurunjira rented the house but was seldom there. However, a dispute over the rent had crept up recently, prompting the landlord to lock up the house.
Karamuzi graduated from Uganda Christian University Mukono in 2006 and worked as as a receptionist at NTV and as a public relations officer for AYA construction firm.
The victim’s mother, Joy Karamuzi, said she last saw her daughter on January 21.
Nkurunjira was yesterday interrogated at the Police station as detectives returned to the scene where they dusted the place for fingerprints.
There will be a funeral service at All Saints Cathedral in Kampala today and burial at Kacheera, Rakai district on Tuesday.
THE Police at the weekend recovered the body of a young woman dumped in a septic tank of a house in a Kampala suburb and arrested a businessman, suspected to be her lover, in connection with the grisly incident.
Two other people, a friend of the suspect and a gardener, have also been arrested.
The decomposing body of 26-year-old Brenda Karamuzi was discovered in the tank of the house, rented by Tom Nkurunjira, in Muyenga, an upscale Kampala suburb.
The two bed-roomed house with a sitting room, kitchen and two bathrooms, sits on an expansive compound overlooking Lake Victoria, ringed off by a wall fence. It is on a block shared with another tenant identified by the Police as Abdul Aziz Kakooza.
The bizarre discovery was made on Saturday morning by a man winding up a fumigation exercise. Contracted by Kakooza, the man had just finished fumigating the house and was on his way out when he realised that he had not fumigated the septic tank.
He informed Kakooza and was given the go-ahead, only to be treated to a rude shock upon removing the tank cover and being confronted with a body floating in the water.
Terrified, he notified Kakooza who in turn alerted the Police. The body was retrieved at about 2:00pm by the Police fire brigade. It had a deep depression in the forehead, suggesting a hard blow by a blunt object.
Detectives attached to Kabalagala Police station took statements from Kakooza and the fumigator. Another statement was taken from Fred Ssempija, the shamba man who doubled as a sentry. He was later detained.
Police spokesperson Judith Nabakooba yesterday said they were treating it as a case of murder. “Investigations are in the early stages but we are treating it as such.â€
The key suspect, Nkurunjira, was later arrested at Kabalagala Police station as he rushed there to rescue a friend who had tricked him by saying he was arrested in connection with a traffic offence.
The friend had arrived at the house asking for Nkurunjira. He was detained by the Police and used later as a bait.
Detectives had to break into the house on Saturday after consulting with the landlord. Blood stains were found on the wall, floor and on a cushion although detectives said it was clear that there had been an effort to clean up the place.
The Police suspect that the body could have been dumped in the septic tank at night and through the back door.
A further search of the premises revealed three handbags containing a Visa ATM and NSSF cards, shoes and other items belonging to the deceased. The bags were found in the ceiling.
A red Freelander Land Rover was parked in the compound with the driver’s seat reclined. In the co-driver’s seat was an army rain coat.
Neighbours told the Police that Nkurunjira rented the house but was seldom there. However, a dispute over the rent had crept up recently, prompting the landlord to lock up the house.
Karamuzi graduated from Uganda Christian University Mukono in 2006 and worked as as a receptionist at NTV and as a public relations officer for AYA construction firm.
The victim’s mother, Joy Karamuzi, said she last saw her daughter on January 21.
Nkurunjira was yesterday interrogated at the Police station as detectives returned to the scene where they dusted the place for fingerprints.
There will be a funeral service at All Saints Cathedral in Kampala today and burial at Kacheera, Rakai district on Tuesday.