harifa Akullu met her death at the hands of an unidentified gunman in front of Lim Welo Guest House, a popular brothel along Acholi Lane in Pece-Laroo Division on Sunday morning.
Security personnel in Gulu City
have opened investigations into the circumstances surrounding the killing of a
27-year-old female sex worker. Sharifa Akullu met her death at the hands of an unidentified gunman in front of Lim Welo Guest House, a popular brothel
along Acholi Lane in Pece-Laroo Division on Sunday morning.
Peter Banya, the Deputy Resident
City Commissioner in charge of the Pece-Laroo Division, says that the deceased was
shot in the neck and died instantly. She reportedly hailed from Otuke district. Banya notes that police secured
the crime scene Sunday morning and recovered a cartridge that will be used to
investigate the source of the gun.
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According to Banya, whereas
Akullu had been known to engage in prostitution, which is illegal, her killing wasn’t justified and promised to bring the person or those behind it to
book.
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Banya noted that security personnel
already have a lead on the possible suspect behind the shooting of Akullu and are still carrying out further investigations to corroborate the circumstances. Uganda Radio Network understands
from multiple sources that the deceased who reportedly left behind two children
had been renting the brothel along with other sex workers.
It’s reported that the deceased
however had spates of misunderstandings with some of her colleagues and on
several occasions, she was reported to have been tortured by hired goons. Security sources who preferred
anonymity reported that on the fateful Sunday morning, the deceased had been
out with four different people but on return to the brothel, she was shot dead
just outside the premises.
Witnesses' accounts to security
personnel however alleged that the suspect behind the murder was a police
officer who could have disagreed with the deceased. But Aswa West River Region Police
Spokesperson David Ongom Mudong dismissed the allegations, saying that the suspect behind
the crime remains at large. The police say the motive behind
the murder isn’t yet established. Sharifah’s body is currently lying at the
Gulu Regional Referral Hospital Morgue pending postmortem to ascertain the exact
cause of death.
The incident has been registered as murder by shooting under CRB:18/2024 at Gulu Central Police Station. Meanwhile, security over the
weekend arrested a total of 25 suspected female sex workers in separate areas
within Gulu city. The suspects were arrested near the National Social Security
Fund (NSSF) Gulu regional Offices in the Bardege-Layibi Division and along
Acholi land in the Pece-Laroo Division and released without charges. Their
arrest comes on the heels of a growing number of females engaging in illegal prostitution
businesses within Gulu City.
