Man 'buries murdered' wife in bedroom

Jan 02, 2016

The slain woman has been a hair dresser at Kasenyi landing site in Wakiso district.

The Police have arrested a man in Wakiso district over allegations that he murdered his wife and buried the body in the children's bedroom.

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Yusuf Ngobi, a crime preventer and resident of Ttega Zone in Nsangi subcounty, is alleged to have killed his wife, Jessica Namale, 34, with whom they had two children.

Ngobi was first detained at Nsangi Police station on Tuesday, but was transferred to Katwe Police station in Kampala on Wednesday, fearing that angry residents, who had learnt about the murder would storm the Police and cause commotion.

The Kampala Metropolitan Police spokesperson, Patrick Onyango, said relatives of the deceased reported to Police after Namale disappeared for days, yet she last communicated to her mother, Tereza Najjemba, that she was heading to her home in Nabbingo.

Namale has been a hair dresser at Kasenyi landing site in Wakiso district where she has been living ever since she got misunderstandings with her husband over the sale of their house.

However, she continued returning home to check on her property.

Onyango said Namale had transferred her two children to her mother's home at Katende on Masaka Road.

On Sunday, she told people that she was going to visit her sick child, who had been admitted to a private clinic.

According to Onyango, the deceased's mother became suspicious when she constantly called on Namale's cell phone and no one was picking and later, her son-in-law showed up at the clinic and cleared the medical bills.

"When we contacted him first and he told us that he did not have the money. We instead called Namale, who informed us that she was coming to see the child, adding that she would first check home in Nabbingo, but we never got in touch again," Najjemba told the Police in her statement.

Namale's sister, Ssanyu Nabuuma, told the Police that they became suspicious, but Ngobi assured them that he had left her home.

She said they were shocked to find Ngobi and two men at home, cementing some parts of the children's bedroom and tipped the Police immediately.

The Police, however, arrested Ngobi when he allegedly took aside one of them and promised a bribe of sh1m if he accepted to back off the matter.

He was taken to Nsangi, where he reportedly confessed that he had buried his wife in one of the bedrooms.

He alleged that she had been killed by her son, Derrick Sserunkuuma (Ngobi's step son). He then decided to bury her to save his face. Sserunkuuma was also arrested to help with the investigations. The Police were still guarding the home as they waited for the Police doctor before exhuming the body for a postmortem. Local council officials, however, told the Police that they had been handling a case where the couple disagreed on the sale of their home.

Ngobi allegedly wanted to sell off the house to service a bank loan. Local council officials however, intervened and blocked Ngobi from selling the house, which they suspect could have angered him. Domestic and gender based violence are on the increase in Uganda which has escalated homicide cases.

According to the Uganda Demographic Health Survey (2011), six out of 10 women have experienced physical violence, while 58% of women and 44% of men believe it is justified for a man to beat his wife under certain circumstances.

Justice for victims of gender-based violence remains elusive, with conviction rates for rape and defilement standing at 0.8% and 1.8%, respectively. In 2014, the Police recorded 2,421 homicide cases, reflecting an increase of 4.1% from the previous year.

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