Hell broke loose in Ibanda district when an angry mob from Buhweju district raided Rujumbura village in Ibanda and burnt two people to death.
The mob was avenging the death of James Natukunda, a popular cattle trader.
The deceased have been identified as Jerethom Rubiriga 95 and Violet Bezire 87, both residents of Rujumbura cell in Ibanda district.
According to Samson Kasasira, the Rwizi Region Police Spokesperson, trouble started when 19-year-old Yoweri Kasasira, who is on the run, went to Natukunda’s home in Buhweju district and led that he was going to sell him a cow.
Natukunda then followed Kasasira to Ibanda with Shillings 6 million for buying the cow. However, the victim went with his friend only identified as Katsigazi and the suspect to the farm where they found cows.
It is alleged that the suspect instructed Katsigazi to call his parents from a nearby farm in the pretense that they had instructed him to look for the buyer. However, upon his return, Katsigazi could not trace the suspect and deceased.
Kasasira says that while Katsigazi was still searching for his missing friend, a young man he identified as Sam Mushabe approached him and explained how he saw Kasasira dragging a dead body and fixing it on a stump before covering it with tree branches.
Mushabe led Katsigazi to the tree stump where he found Natukunda’s lifeless body lying in a pool of blood. He notified his relatives in the village who mobilized and raided Kasasira’s home where they found his grandparents in their house and torched it.
According to Fred Mutabazi the LC I chairperson of LC 1 Ryakwera Village, he received information that Natukunda had been killed in his village and that people were coming to avenge his death and reported the matter to police.
However, the mob arrived before the police and wreaked havoc. The bodies were burnt beyond recognition by the time police arrived.
Kasasira says they have launched a manhunt for the suspect and those behind the mob attack.
