The police have said a man arrested in connection to a defilement and a murder case of a 15-year-old student in Mbale City in March this year, has told them that he killed 49 people for ritual sacrifices. The suspect was arrested on the allegations of defilement and murder of Sumaya Edrisa Binti, 15, a Senior Two student of Nakaloke Secondary School, in a lodge in Mbale City on March 23.
It is alleged that the suspect cut off the victim’s index finger and collected her blood before he left the lodge room. Police Crime Intelligence operatives led by Assistant Superintendent of Police Ismael Ssenono arrested the suspect in Budebela Cell in Mayuge Town Council, Mayuge District, on Saturday last week after investigating and tracking him for months. Police sources investigating the case said the suspect admitted to the killing of Binti and 48 others.
‘The suspect told detectives that a witch doctor asked him for human blood and an index finger that were to be used in the performance of rituals. He alleges that he was paid Shs5m for the blood and the index finger,’ a senior police officer said. Police are still holding the suspect at Iganga Central Police Station, but they are to transfer him to Mbale City, where the Binti murder case is being investigated.
‘We have put serious efforts to examine his statements about the death of the 49 girls because he had another pending human trafficking case in court. The pending case is similar to that of Binti,’ the officer said. The suspect has, however, not yet given names of his suspected victims other than Binti.
Binti’s killing
In Binti’s case, the police records show that the suspect visited Grace Guest House in Mbale City at around 9am, looking for a room to spend the night. ‘Mr Peter Nabende, a receptionist at the guest house, welcomed the suspect and took him to the manager to check the rooms. They started with room 10, which the suspect said was good. They proceeded to room 14, but the suspect claimed it was too small. He finally chose room 11,’ the police officer said.
The suspect allegedly told the manager that his girlfriend was to visit him in the room. After the suspect had paid the bill, the manager left him in the room.
Four hours later, the receptionist visited the room only to find a naked body of Binti tied with a mosquito net on the bed and one of its fingers cut off. The suspect had already fled the place. As the guest house workers were grappling with the incident, the suspect allegedly called the guest house manager and told him to go to room 11 to check their property.
The manager reported the case at Nkoma Police Station and an investigation was launched. However, the police’s efforts to identify the suspect failed for months.
Mayuge incident
Three months later, on June 29, the suspect was arrested with a 16-year-old girl in a guest house in Mayuge District. Police later linked him to Binti’s murder in Mbale City. Detectives in Mayuge District charged him with human trafficking of a 16-year-old girl, and produced him in court. The court remanded him to prison, but he later applied for bail.
On October 16, the court granted him bail and released him. Police investigators said after he secured his freedom, he reconnected with the traditional healer to continue with the ritual sacrifices. Police are currently establishing the people, especially the traditional healers, with whom the suspect was linked.