Uganda: Family piles pressure on police to recover head of suspected ritual victim

Another suspected ritual murder in Uganda. This time an eight-year old boy was killed apparently for ritual proposes. The boy, Yasin Sserunga, who was a pupil at Destiny Primary School, was found dead with head and toes missing.

A suspect was arrested but his arrest won’t bring back the boy to his parents who are unable to recover from their grief at their son’s death. They pay the price for someone’s belief in witchcraft and superstition.
(webmaster FVDK).

Family piles pressure on police to recover head of suspected ritual victim

Yasin Sserunga, a pupil at Destiny Primary School went missing from his parent’s home at Kisule Butanza village, Katikamu Sub County in Luwero district on January 7th.

Sylvia Namutebi aka Maama Fiina condoling with Nabatanzi the mother of slain Yasin Sserunga.

Published: March 3, 2023
By: Mazima – Uganda (thanks to URN)

A family in Luwero District has asked the Police to find the head of an eight-year-old boy who was killed in a suspected ritual murder.

Yasin Sserunga, a pupil at Destiny Primary School went missing from his parent’s home at Kisule Butanza village, Katikamu Sub County in Luwero district on January 7th.

Sserunga was found dead the next day with his head and toes missing. Sserunga’s torso was buried at Kasanga village in Nakasongola District but to date, the Police are yet to recover the head and other parts.

Yasin Sserunga, the father of the deceased says that two weeks ago, residents arrested a key suspect Robert Mawanda, a neighbor, and handed him to Police but investigations have dragged on.

Sserunga says the family is still in pain for burying their child without some body parts. He also fears that the police may release the key suspect because they have detained him for two weeks without appearing in court, which is contrary to the mandatory 48 hours.

Abubaker Sande Ssebwoya, the uncle to the deceased says that the suspect was linked to the murder after residents and relatives found him at the scene of the crime at around 2 am when they were searching for Sserunga.

Ssebwoya adds that the Police also obtained phone printouts that linked the suspect to the scene and other people have recorded statements on the matter.

The child’s family abandoned their home after the murder and are staying with relatives.

Patrick Lule, the Savannah Regional Police Spokesperson has asked the family to remain calm because the police are determined to ensure they get justice and recover the missing body parts.

Lule says that Police detained Mawanda but he has denied participation in the ritual murder and knowledge about the whereabouts of the missing body parts.

Lule, however, notes that the Police are pursuing scientific investigations to link him to the murder and his file has been sent to the State Attorney to sanction charges against him. 

According to the Police report, 58 people were murdered in 2022 in Luwero and the district ranked eighth in the country with the highest number of homicide cases. 

Source: Family piles pressure on police to recover head of suspected ritual victim

Uganda: body of boy found without head, toes

The new year couldn’t start worse. Another suspected ritual murder in Uganda. This time the victim is an 8-year old boy who was kidnapped from his family’s courtyard – in Luweero District – on Saturday, January 7.
The reader is reminded that in August 2022, the body of a 3-year old child was discovered in the same region, hanging in a banana plantation, murdered. Also in the latter case, the circumstances warrant the suspicion of a ritual sacrifice.
(webmaster FVDK).

Body of boy found without head, toes

Police and residents near the scene where the deceased’s was discovered in Butanza Village, Luweero District, yesterday. PHOTO/ DAN WANDERA

Published: January 9, 2023
By: Dan Wandera – Daily Monitor, Uganda

What you need to know:

Residents say the incident has reawakened fears of kidnappers involved in ritual sacrifice.

Residents of Butanza-Kisule Village in Katikamu Sub-county, Luweero District, yesterday woke up to shocking news after they discovered the body of an eight-year-old boy, earlier reported missing in a garden.

The body did not have a head, fingers and toes.

While the residents associate the gruesome murder to child sacrifice, the police said they await the postmortem report to guide the investigations as they hunt for those who committed the crime.

“We have taken the body for postmortem but we call upon anybody with information that can guide the investigation to pass it to the police. Avoid rumours and unfounded talks but cooperate with the police,” Ms Sarah Kataike, the district criminal investigations officer, told the residents gathered near the home where the child went missing from the parents.

Ms Prossy Nabatanzi, the mother of the deceased, revealed that her son, Yasin Sseruga, was last seen on Saturday at around 3pm as he played with her younger sister in the family compound.

“As they played, somebody approached them and convinced the girl to go and get something from the house. When she returned, her brother and the unidentified man had disappeared from the compound,” she revealed.

“We reported the case to our village chairperson and we were also advised to go to Wobulenzi Police Station to report the case of the missing boy. The village mounted a search in the nearby areas but we did not get the missing boy,” she added.

Mr Godfrey Kafeero, the village chairperson, revealed that when the village tried to search the surrounding areas, they got stuck because there was no clue about the direction that the suspected kidnappers could have taken.

“They took advantage of the young girl and sister of the kidnapped boy who could not give any details. The young girl could not even describe the person who convinced her to go into the house,” he said.

Mr Kafeero explained that one of the residents only identified as Med discovered the lifeless body of a child tied between two tree trunks with a missing head as he approached his garden about 500 meters from the home where the child had been reported missing. “He quickly raised an alarm, alerting the residents. We are confused as residents because the intentions of the suspected assailants are not known. They manage to bring back the body in a place where we can easily locate it,” he says.

Ms Regina Nabachwa, another resident, said the incident has reawakened the fears of suspected child kidnappers involved in ritual sacrifice.

“This is a painful experience as a parent. They did not bother to call the parents for possible ransom. The suspects must have targeted the human body parts,” Ms Nabachwa claimed in an interview.

Recent incident

On August 31, police recovered the body of a three-year-old child hanging in a banana plantation in Kanyogoga Village, Luweero Sub-county. The deceased identified as Innocent Adriko had been left under the care of a 15-year-old by their mother, who had travelled.

Source: Body of boy found without head, toes

Also:

Suspected Ritual Victim Buried Without Head

The torso of Yasin Sserunga being taken for burial at Kasanga village in Katuugo town in Nakasongola district

Published: January 10, 2023
By: Brian Luwaga – Uganda Radio Network

The former pupil of Destiny Primary School disappeared from his parent’s home at Kisule Butanza village in Luwero district on Saturday afternoon.

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Source: Suspected Ritual Victim Buried Without Head