Mob lynches unidentified woman for attempted motorcycle theft

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Police are investigating circumstances under which a mob lynched an unidentified woman on accusations of attempting to steal a motorcycle from Derrick Mugabe, a boda boda rider in Namutumba town council on Tuesday morning. It is alleged that the deceased who was in the company of an unidentified man approached Mugabe to transport them from Namutumba town council to Kibaale trading center on his motorcycle registration number UFD 132C.

However, it is alleged that when they reached a bushy area, the deceased hacked Mugabe in the back with a machete prompting him to raise alarm for help. Residents ganged up against the woman and stoned her to death. Mugabe who is receiving treatment at Iganga general hospital says that the man fled after realizing that people had started gathering at the scene of crime.

“He managed to maneuver through the crowds and escaped. However, the woman who was still holding a machete and part of her dress soaked in blood was easily identified and lynched,” he said. The Busoga East police spokesperson James Mubi says the deceased’s body has been taken to Iganga general hospital mortuary where they are waiting for the deceased’s relatives to authorize the autopsy. Mubi explains that cases of motorcycle theft were rampant between 2018 and 2019.

He however says that the thefts went down following the death of Rodgers Mususwa who used to lead the racket of people who used to steal and rebrand motorcycles from Eastern Uganda during a police led crackdown in Bugweri district late last year. Mubi says that the motorcycle robbers who used to position themselves with machetes, knives and drugs used to deploy ladies to lure motorcycle riders into deserted areas, where they could easily rob them unnoticed.

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