UGANDA, Fort Portal | Real Muloodi News | Fort Portal City police are investigating the death of a 47-year-old man who was lynched by a mob following allegations that he had killed his 53-year-old brother in a fatal land dispute.
Julius Baguma, a resident of Mukumbwe Cell in Rubingo Ward, North Division of Fort Portal, was attacked by the mob on Thursday April 20 at approximately 10:30 am after news circulated in the community that he had allegedly killed his brother, Wilson Kamihanda.
According to Vincent Twesige, the spokesperson for the Rwenzori West police, the two brothers had been embroiled in a long-standing dispute over a piece of land left by their late parents some years earlier.
“On Thursday, Kamihanda was digging the contested piece of land when Baguma attacked him, disarmed him of the hoe he was using and used the same hoe to hit him in the head which broke his skull. Kamihanda died instantly,” Twesige disclosed.
The police report that Baguma attempted to resist arrest by locals who learned that he had allegedly murdered his elder brother.
“The action of Baguma prompted the angry community members to attack him with much force and in the process, he was also hit on the head using bricks and sticks [pieces of firewood] from the neighborhood. He was killed by a mob from the same area,” Twesige explained.
According to Twesige, the police had recovered exhibits, including a hoe, sticks, and bricks with suspected bloodstains, by Thursday evening. However, investigations were still ongoing.
Unfortunately, this fatal land dispute is not not uncommon for the area, according to the 2022 annual police crime report, which documented a high number of murder cases in the Rwenzori West region. The region recorded 39 cases of murder by mob action, nine cases of murder by shooting, 18 cases of murder by domestic violence, 35 cases of murder by strangulation, and 96 cases of murder by assault.
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