Kampala, Uganda | URN | Several sex workers from Wantoni trading center in Mukono municipality in the Central Region of Uganda have so far spent nine days in police custody and still counting, for allegedly beating to death an unidentified man at their residence.
On the night of September 19, eleven sex workers together with the manager of Recess Bar and Lodges, Abdu Kiggundu were arrested for allegedly beating to death a man whose identity is not yet determined by Uganda Police due to lack of any identity documents.
The Ggulu Ward chairperson, Muhammad Wasswa Takwana says the man had gone to seek sexual services but failed to agree on payments.
According to Takwana, a sex worker agreed to offer services to the deceased at 5,000 Shillings at Recess Bar and Lodges, however after the act, the man paid a five thousand shillings note and demanded for the balance of 1,000 Shillings which the sex worker declined to return.
After minutes of bickering, the man confiscated the mobile telephone from the woman and demanded for the change money as he walked away with the telephone. The woman made an alarm which attracted her colleagues, and they started beating him on accusations of stealing the phone.
Read Also: Criminalization of sex work in Uganda will increase violence
By the time police arrived at the scene, the man had passed on.
The Kampala Metropolitan Police Spokesperson Patrick Onyango says Uganda Police have so far conducted the screening exercise of the arrested suspects with six still in custody.
He however declined to reveal names of suspects who are still behind the bars on grounds of not interfering with the investigations. He also revealed that currently, they are waiting to retrieve the postmortem report from Mulago before sending the case file to the State Attorney for perusal and legal advice.
“We have recorded statements from relevant witnesses and screened the twelve suspects that we had initially arrested and remained with only six in custody and we have enough evidence pinning them on this murder case,” Onyango said.
