The police in Lwengo district are investigating a strange incident in which unknown people exhumed the body of a prominent witch doctor and took the remains.
The deceased identified as Emmanuel Lutwama died in July 2020 after a prolonged illness. But unknown people have now dug up a hole into his grave and retrieved his remains from the coffin, at a burial ground in Kasambya-Kalegero village in Malongo sub-county. The incident occurred on Monday night.
Lutwama’s wife had gone to the banana plantation for food when, suddenly, she saw a deep hole and clothes that had been scattered around the grave, raising an alarm that attracted area residents and the police.
According to Kasambya-Kalegero Village Chairperson Jane Francis Katende, the ‘thieves’ retrieved the remains from the coffin and took the head and the arms with them. The rest of the body was abandoned about 50 meters from the grave.
Family members say that the incident is not only shocking to the family members but the entire village because the deceased was buried after performing rituals to deter cannibals and any person who may want to take his remains.
They add that they are planning to rebury the remains in another grave since the cultural norms do not permit them to return them to the same grave. Now, the family is searching for the rest of the remains.
They appealed to the police to help track down the thieves and bring them to justice.
Muhammad Nsubuga, the Southern Regional Police spokesperson, says the motive remains unknown but the Police are investigating this as a case of malicious damage and disturbing the peace of the dead.
According to morticians, a body takes 10 or 15 years to decompose into a skeleton, and they often tend to last longer when the coffin is sealed in heavy clay ground because the air is not getting to the deceased.