Kiboga district was struck by horror as the lifeless bodies of two young sisters were discovered, allegedly victims of a gruesome ritual sacrifice. The suspect, Sulaiman Sentongo, a witch doctor residing in Kirinda Village, Kapeke Sub County, has been apprehended by local authorities.
The victims have been identified as Sylvia Nantongo, aged 5, and Esther Nakasumba, aged 2. The tragic incident occurred on April 3, 2024, but it wasn’t until April 5, 2024, that Sentongo was taken into custody to assist with ongoing investigations.
The sisters had gone missing after their parents sent them home to eat while they continued their work in the fields. Concern escalated when the parents returned to an empty home with uneaten food. They promptly alerted the police and their fellow residents, launching an immediate search for the young girls.
Heartbreakingly, the girls’ father, Julius Sseruyima, revealed that his daughters had been ruthlessly murdered. The perpetrator had dismembered various body parts and attached notes to them, seemingly guiding investigators to the remaining pieces. Disturbingly, the torso of Nakasumba was found in Kasinina, along the Kampala-Kiboga highway.
Rachael Kawala, the Wamala Region Police Spokesperson, detailed the harrowing sequence of events. Authorities employed a sniffer dog, which tracked down the location where Nakasumba’s torso was discovered. Next to her decapitated body, a note provided directions to the heads of the victims.
Following the lead, the sniffer dog led the police to a brick furnace near Kasinina Elimu Church, where the two heads had reportedly been discarded. The canine’s trail eventually led investigators to Sentongo’s residence, which doubled as a shrine. However, the suspect was not present at the time. Consequently, his wife was taken into custody on April 4, 2024.
“We have arrested Sentongo today to further aid in the investigations into the deaths of the two innocent girls because the sniffer dogs also stopped at his house, which is also used as a shrine,” revealed Kawala.
Emphasizing the urgency and importance of the ongoing investigation, Kawala urged parents to refrain from leaving young children unattended or allowing them to travel alone, due to the prevalence of suspected ritual murders involving traditional healers in central Uganda.
