The decomposing body of a six-year-old child, who went missing early this month, has been found. A pupil of Gembe Primary School in Wobulenzi, Luweero district, the deceased was found dumped in a ditch on Saturday, half a kilometer from her home.
The body was wrapped in a bed sheet and had strangulation marks. Godfrey Lugando, the father of the deceased, reported a missing child’s case at Katikamu Police post on May 8. Two suspects have since been arrested.
Yesterday, Police spokesperson Fred Enanga identified the suspects in custody as Henry Lubega, 14, and Brian Tuhairwe, 19, both Lugando’s colleagues. He said the alleged kidnap was intended to procure a ransom.
Enanga said both suspects and Lugando are casual laborers at a neighboring home, which belongs to a city businesswoman, only identified as Khanifah.
“On the day the child disappeared, the suspects were seen playing with her. She never returned home,” Enanga said, adding, “The next morning (May 9) at 4:00 am, Lugando received a phone call, in which he was demanded an sh3.5m ransom.”
“They called him again with the same demand at 6:00 am,” Enanga told the weekly press conference at the Police headquarters in Naguru, Kampala, yesterday.
Police are still trying to establish the voices behind the calls that allegedly aided the suspects in Police custody. According to Enanga, investigators have since recovered muddy-gumboots and the bed sheet used to wrap the victim, pending more investigations.
The child is one of nine kidnap victims reported since January this year.
