High Court Jails 20-Year-Old Man For 24 Years After Admitting To Killing Child

• Richard Uchanda was found guilty of murdering a one-year-old child identified as Tracy Alimocan in 2021
• During the hearing, the court was told how Uchanda kidnapped the baby before killing her with the hope of selling internal body organs at KSh 200,000
• Justice Philip Odoki sentenced Uchanda to 24 years in jail, which will begin counting from the day he was remanded in prison

A High Court in Uganda has convicted a man for 24 years in prison for killing a one-year-old baby for ritual purposes.

Daily Monitor reported that Gulu High Court Resident Judge Philip Odoki sentenced Richard Uchanda to serve a jail term after admitting to committing the crime two years ago.

Why Richard Uchanda killed the minor

In his ruling, Justice Odoki said he considered that the life of a minor was ended cruelly by people who intended to sacrifice the child for selfish reasons.

"I have taken into considerations that this offence was premeditated, there was a life, which was lost when the crime was committed cruelly and the intention was to sacrifice the child and traffic then body parts," Justice Odoki ruled.

While arriving at a 24-year jail sentence, the judge considered that the 20-year-old man has been on remand since his arrest in 2021.

"I therefore, find that the accurate sentence of 24 years is suitable in the circumstances of this case. I have also taken into considerations the period of two years that you (Uchanda) have spent on remand. You will now serve 21 years, 11 months and 20 days starting from today, you have the right to appeal within 14 days," the judge added.

During the trial, the court heard that Uchanda and David Opiyo killed Tracy Alimocan after kidnapping her.

The prosecution witness narrated how the convict took the child from her parent's home, and after trailing him, they found the lifeless body in a nearby bush.

When Uchanda was arrested, he claimed he was under duress as he intended to sell the internal body organs for KSh 200,000 to support his siblings.

“He was planning to remove some of her body parts to give to a woman called Jessica who had promised to give him a sum of KSh 200,000 in exchange for the human body parts,” the prosecution said.

Murang'a man flees

In other sad news, police officers in Murang'a county are investigating a case where a 28-year-old man allegedly killed his two children in cold blood.

Evans Kang'ethe from Nyoni, in Kiharu, Murang'a, reportedly killed his two children, aged seven and three, with a sharp object for a yet-to-be-known motive.

A report by Citizen TV indicated that the suspect fled from his home after the gruesome killings, and police officers have since launched a manhunt for him.

His wife reportedly fled from the marital home a week ago after an altercation with her alleged killer husband.

The bodies of the little ones have since been moved to the Murang'a Level 5 Hospital Mortuary, awaiting post-mortem.

According to the deceased children's grandmother, she got reports about the atrocity at around 9pm on Sunday after her younger son approached her bearing the devastating news.

"One of my sons came to me and told me Kang'ethe had killed the children," she told the media from her home.