Police officers in Wakiso are puzzled in their investigation into the rape and murder of Sharif Nakayingi after a sniffer dog led them to a house occupied by three women. Nakayingi was found raped and killed inside her home over the weekend.
To identify the culprits, the Wakiso police involved a sniffer dog from the Kakiri policing division. The dog led to the arrest of three women, leaving detectives uncertain about the next steps since the postmortem report indicated that the sexual assault and subsequent murder were likely committed by multiple men.
The police are holding the three women in custody but have not yet pressed charges. Wakiso detectives mentioned in their report to the Kampala Metropolitan Police headquarters at CPS. “We are keeping the three women in our custody, but we can’t conclude on the charges to prefer against them since the victim’s rape and murder is highly suspected to have been committed by men.”
Luke Owoyesigyire, the Deputy Kampala Metropolitan Police spokesperson, confirmed Nakayingi’s murder and the arrest of the three women. He also stated that detectives plan to conduct DNA analysis on the evidence collected at the crime scene to find leads to the actual perpetrators.
If the sniffer dogs are found to have wrongly implicated the three women in Nakayingi’s murder, it would support the public’s growing concerns that sniffer dogs have been used to frame individuals for extortion purposes. In recent days, there have been several accusations against sniffer dog handlers, alleging that they have fabricated cases and demanded bribes ranging from 500,000 to 1,000,000 Ugandan shillings. Complaints have emerged from districts including Sheema, Wakiso, Kasese, and Buhweju.
Nakayingi’s case follows closely on the heels of another similar incident in Matugga town council, where 31-year-old Specioza Nabaale, a chips seller, was gang-raped and murdered. Nabaale’s body was found in a banana plantation in Mabanda Cell, Matugga, Gombe Division, showing clear signs of assault, including swollen eyes, rigor mortis, and bleeding from her private parts. Investigators also found a knife at the scene, suggesting it may have been used to coerce her.