Policeman found guilty of strangling child of colleague

The judge says she is convinced the cop, who was sharing a house with the parents of the minor, murdered her.

A policeman has been found guilty of strangling to death a nine-year-old child of his fellow policeman in a shared house in Naalya Housing estate.

IP Emmanuel Abura Wilson was found guilty by presiding judge Margaret Mutonyi yesterday after the prosecution evidence linked him to the crime scene.

“Prosecution evidence put the accused (IP Abura) at the scene of crime much as he attempted to lie to court that he was away at a bar shortly after lunch. His alibi was destroyed by his police statement that was recorded shortly after the incident. His conduct was not the conduct of an innocent person,” ruled Justice Mutonyi.

She added: “In view of the fact that there was no stranger in the premises and the accused was seen leaving home by the parents of the deceased only to find their child strangled and hanged on a nail with the legs touching the ground, there was no other assailant other than the accused who meticulously killed the child and threw the keys through the broken louvres.”

Justice Mutonyi, thereafter, ruled that Abura was guilty of the offence of murder contrary to sections 188 and 189 of the Penal Code Act as charged and convicted him accordingly as provided under Section 83 of the Trial on Indictment Act.

Court documents show that the two police officers, IP Abura, and the father of the deceased nine-year-old girl, CPL Joel Mwondha, stayed in the same house.

The house had two access points, that is the kitchen door and the sitting room door. IP Abura had the kitchen access whereas CPL Mwondha got access to the house through the sitting room.

Ms Takali Lydia Sylvia, the mother of the deceased, told the court how on the fateful day, on November 6, 2021, she left her at home doing homework between 5:30pm and 5:40pm. When she returned, the house was locked. Then, her daughter, was found hanging inside the house.

Ms Takali said she suspected IP Abura because she left him in the house and on her return, she saw him leaving home.

She also said her family did not have a good relationship with Abura’s family even though they were neighbours.

Justice Mutonyi said the nine-year-old could not have committed suicide, and observed that it is common knowledge that for a person to die as a result of hanging, the body must be suspended, which was not the scenario in this matter.

“This court strongly believes from analysis of the circumstantial evidence, that a child of 9 years would not conceive the idea of getting a lanyard, which is rarely used for committing suicide unlike a rope and hanging herself from a small nail on the door frame...Court is convinced that there was some external force that tied the lanyard around her neck tightly and purported to hang her on the nail leading to her death. I am, therefore, convinced beyond reasonable doubt that the deceased a small child of 9 years who was left home doing her homework had no reason to commit suicide by hanging herself…”

She added: “His cruel hatred for the children of the housemate and resentment of sharing the house with another police officer given the fact that he had a big family of seven people took a heavy toll on his faculty of consciousness and thoughts where he ended up killing an innocent defenceless child.”

Having been found guilty of murder that attracts up to the maximum penalty of death by hanging, Justice Mutonyi said she would sentence Abura tomorrow.