Son chops off father’s head as he stops him from beating wife

Police in Sironko has arrested a man for chopping off the head of his father following a family fight.

According to eyewitnesses, the incident happened on Thursday at around 8pm at Mabale village, Buwasa Sub County in Sironko district when a man only identified as Hakim got into a fight with his wife whose identity is not yet clear and the father joined to intervene.

“As the son was fighting with his wife, the father (to the son) joined the fight to separate the two but during the scuffle, he(father) had his head cut off,” said Sumaya Mugide, an eyewitness.

According to Aziru Obudhambi, another eyewitness, the houses for the suspect and deceased are opposite to each other and therefore they share the courtyard and that the deceased was stopping his son from fighting his wife in the father’s courtyard.

“The son refused, saying the father had no authority to stop him from doing what he wants from his (son’s) courtyard. During the argument, the son accused his father of being violent that at one time he cut off the hand of his mother which angered him (the father),” Obudhambi told this website.

“The dad asked whether his son wanted to revenge over the same? In no minute, the son had chopped off the head.”

The eyewitness identified the deceased as Muzamilu Webisa adding that the suspect is currently under police custody, whereas the deceased’s body was taken to Mbale hospital mortuary for postmortem.

When contacted for a comment, the Elgon regional police spokesperson, Assistant Superintendent of Police, John Robert Tukei confirmed the incident but noted a team has gone to the ground to find out the circumstances under which it happened.

Past incidents

In the past, there have been a number of such bizarre incidents in various parts of the country.

In September last year, two brothers in Isingiro hacked their father, Tuwangye Karoli, 64 to death and left his body in a pool of blood because of a 4.5-hectare banana plantation he wanted to sell.

In August 2019, Rev Stephen Munvaneza, a retired priest in Kabale was left nursing wounds after being hacked by his biological son over land.