Tororo Police Arrest Three Suspects for Assaulting Widow

Police in Mulanda Sub County Tororo district has arrested three suspects on allegation of assault, occasioning bodily harm to Athieno Kevin, a 62-year old widow in Lokomwa village.

The suspects all residents of Lokomwa village, and brothers-in-law to the widow, are Omalla Patrick, Olowo Julius and Obbo Joseph, while others on the run include an LC1 chairman.

The suspects on Tuesday morning allegedly found the widow tilling her land with a caretaker when they attacked her with a panga. The widow’s caretaker was cut on the forehead with a panga, inflicting deep cuts on the head, while the widow was beaten severely on the chest and kicked severally on the abdomen which had undergone a recent surgery.

Neighbours came to her rescue, rushing her to Mulanda health centre 4 where she is being treated.

Shortly after their arrest on Thursday, the suspects were arraigned in Mulanda court. They pleaded not guilty and presiding magistrate Junior Akena remand them to Kisoko government prison until 27 August.

Meanwhile, police is huntIing for two suspects who are on the run. Sandra Abbo, a legal officer from Redeem International Tororo office, emphasized that it is against the laws of the country to chase a widow from her land, deny a widow a access to her late husband’s estate, or distributing a deceased’s property without court’s authority.

Athieno Kevin, lost her husband in 2008, but since April this year, she has been fighting to protect her land measuring about 15 acres from the suspects who had forcefully encroached on it with claims that the deceased was given the biggest portion of the family land, and that a woman has no right to own land. The suspects had also gone ahead to distribute part of the widow’s land amongst themselves-URN