Police shoot woman dead during scuffle with residents

Buyende, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Police have shot dead 20-year-old Jessica Tabiisa, a salon operator in Lyingo trading center, Kagulu sub county, Buyende district.

Tabiisa met her death on Monday when police officers opened fire to disperse residents protesting the arrest of Godfrey Mukalu, a drug shop operator accused of procuring an abortion involving a 14-year-old girl.

A stray bullet hit Tabiisa while attending to one of her clients. She is reported to have sustained injuries in the breast and died while being rushed to a private clinic for emergency care.

Her body is lying at Kamuli general hospital mortuary pending post-mortem. Two other people including Enoch Wante and Robert Waiswa survived with serious injuries and were rushed to Kamuli general hospital for further management.

Mukalu told journalists that the crowd turned rowdy after three police officers brutally arrested him without following the necessary procedures and explaining the charges leveled against him.

“Whatever happened today is regrettable, however, our police personnel are arrogant and they torture suspects during arrests, which sparked off today’s chaotic scenes,” he said.

Busoga North Region police spokesperson, Michael Kasadha has confirmed the shooting incident saying that detectives have already inspected the scene of crime and retrieved an undisclosed number of bullet cartridges.

He declined to reveal whether police have made any arrests in connection to the shooting.

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