IGANGA/NWOYA – Three children, who went missing in separate incidents in Iganga and Nwoya districts, were at the weekend found dead.
In Iganga district, Muwanguzi Kaswabuli, 4, and Steven Kusasira, 2, both sons of Robert Waiswa of Namusisi Village in Nabitende Sub-county, were reported missing on Saturday but their bodies were discovered in a pond of sand.
“They were on Saturday morning reported to have gone missing as they followed their mother who was heading to the garden following a heavy downpour,” the village chairman, Mr. Idhi Mudoola, said.
Residents suspect that as the children were walking, the younger one slid into the pond and his elder brother drowned while attempting to rescue him.
Police, with the help of locals, retrieved their bodies from the water.
The deputy officer-in-charge of Criminal Investigations at Iganga Police Station, Mr. William Wanyama, said that the bodies are to be examined.
“We are taking their bodies to Iganga hospital for an autopsy to ascertain circumstances under which they drowned,” Mr. Wanyama said.
He faulted parents for ‘laxity towards their children’, noting that if they had known their movements, perhaps the death could not have happened.
In Nwoya, a three-year-old girl, who went missing from Langol Village in Alero Sub-county, Nwoya District, on February 15, was at the weekend found dead. Mr. Alfred Ocaji, the village chairperson, said the lifeless body of Mercy Adoch was discovered about a kilometre away from their home by children who had gone hunting. Mr. Ocaji said the child was killed in what is believed to have a case of a ritual sacrifice.
“Her hand, eyes and tongue were missing,” he said. Mr. Simon Peter Ocitti, the district CID officer, said investigations into the gruesome murder are underway.
In April 2016, two-year-old Sharon Aketowanga was discovered dead and her body dumped in a nearby stream in Barjere village, Lungulu Sub-County.
