By Soy Reporter
Kotido: A mother and father in northern Uganda have been arrested for allegedly murdering their own son, before chopping the corpse into piece.
Lorna Awili and her husband Paul Lokiru were arrested on Friday after their eight-month- baby was found dead in the house. The two, who are residents of Acholi Inn zone, in Kotido municipality, were arrested after residents found the boy’s body in their house, with some parts which include a tongue and genitals missing. Police preliminary investigations indicate that the boy’s neck was broken, an indication that the suspects must have strangled the child before they started chopping the body into pieces.
Neighbours told police that the couple had had several arguments over the welfare of the child during the past few weeks.
Lucia Lokwameri, the grandmother to the child said the boy was fine the whole day and was still happy by the time the family went to bed, but was shocked the follow day to realise that the boy was missing. “I don’t know what happened at night but I left for bed when my grandchild was doing well. There must be something fishy here”, the teary grandmother said. But both parents claim ignorance of what transpired at night. Lokiru, says that he returned home in the night at 11:00 pm when his wife was breastfeeding the baby and slept, but got shocked in the morning to find the boy dead. Awili attributed the death of her child to witchcraft but could not divulge details. She says she woke up at around 4:00am after putting the baby to sleep, only to find her child in a pool of blood.
Margaret Komakech, the area councillor, urged police to thoroughly investigate the matter so as to establish the cause of the boy’s death. Innocent Dusabe, the officer in charge criminal investigations in Kotido district, said they have launched an investigation into the gruesome murder. However, last year, Awili was paraded before the village council and elders of Acholi Inn village over child neglect. She had abandoned her one-year-old boy who later died due to malnutrition.
