As the country continues to grapple with unresolved cases of murder-after-kidnap, over ten suspects are being held in Mbarara district for allegedly kidnapping and killing a young girl.
The young girl was discovered dead in Mbarara district a week after she went missing.
Two-year-old Lowena Murungi, a daughter to Muhumuza Andrew, a Police Constable attached to the Very Important Persons Protection Unit (VIPPU) of the Police in Nsambya went missing on April 12 at around 5pm in the evening prompting the parents to report the case to authorities.
The young girl was reportedly abducted by unknown people at Kinoni trading centre in Kinoni sub-county, Rwampara, in Mbarara district.
The kidnappers reportedly called the parents and demanded a ransom of Shs 5 million which parents of the deceased girl paid in full. The captors are said to have used a simcard registered as 0700623115.
A week after a search was conducted, Lowena’s body was discovered in a swamp at Rurenje cell, Nyarubungo Parish in Kinoni after one of the suspects led authorities to the scene.
According to Muhumuza, the captors had denied him the chance to speak to the kid despite his willingness to pay the ransom.
The same simcard allegedly used to contact the parents was later recovered from a one Ngasirwe Godfrey, also known as Pastor. Ngasirwe was arrested on Tuesday along with Kamugisha Amon, a saloon attendant in Kinoni trading centre whose handset Ngabirwe had also used using another simcard (0702445930).
The captors are said to have handed over Lowena to the wife of Ngasirwe. However, when she learnt that her husband along with others had been arrested, she with the help of others strangled the child and dumped her body in the swamp.