Mukono man arrested after wife’s body is recovered in pit latrine

Mukono, (UG): The Territorial Police in Mukono District are holding a boda boda cyclist on charges related to murder after the remains of his wife were retrieved from an abandoned pit latrine.

The cyclist, who has for the past one week been on the run turned himself in to police authorities over the weekend. His wife had gone missing on January 15.

Kampala Metropolitan Police Spokesperson Patrick Onyango identified the deceased as Jane Mahoro, a female adult who was staying together with the suspect at their residence in Luwunga Village, Nama Sub-county, Mukono District.

Mr Patrick Mugerwa, the Luwunga Village chairperson, said the body was retrieved from an abandoned pit latrine near the home of the suspect during a search after some children told their parents about a foul smell from the pit latrine.

“We became suspicious because the boda boda cyclist had reported a case of his missing wife. The couple had always had misunderstandings and regular fights but the LC had never intervened because nobody including the wife ever reported about the domestic misunderstandings,” he said.

“But because the residents knew about the behaviour of the cyclist, the suspicion led to the discovery of the body,” he added.

Police say when the suspect reported the case of his missing wife on January 16, he claimed the wife had abandoned the children aged 5 and 7 in the house and relocated to an unknown place, Mr Mugerwa said.

Ssalongo Kawooya, an immediate neighbour to the suspect at the weekend said the boda boda cyclist had failed to cooperate and always quarrelled with almost everyone in the village. He had reportedly barred his wife and children from interacting with any of the residents.

“In case she was spotted talking to a neighbour, it sparked off a fight,” he said.