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Police officers, guards detained over man’s death
The deceased: Damien Haudini, alias Kassim, 20. PHOTO/ COURTESY
What you need to know:
Damien Haudini, alias Kassim, is said to have been arrested by an unidentified person and two private security guards before they tied him up and beat him up last Saturday at around midnight.
Five people, including two police officers, two private security guards and a Local Council defence secretary, have been arrested over the death of a man who was reportedly tortured at an apartment in Muyenga, Makindye Division, Kampala City.
The police officers include the Kabalagala Police Division standby officer and a duty officer, who are detained over neglect of duty.
Damien Haudini, alias Kassim, is said to have been arrested by an unidentified person and two private security guards before they tied him up and beat him up last Saturday at around midnight.
Kampala Metropolitan Police deputy spokesperson Luke Owoyesigyire confirmed the arrests, saying they were detained to help with the investigations.
“We are investigating the murder of Haudini and it is the reason we arrested the two guards and the LC defence secretary. The two other officers are facing disciplinary charges of neglecting their duties. We believe that if they responded on time, the deceased would have got treatment,” Mr Owoyesigyire said.
It is alleged that Haudini was arrested at the gate of the apartment and was suspected to be an intruder.
The guards later informed the LC defence secretary, who went to Muyenga Local Defence Unit (LDU) detach and got two LDU members before responding to the scene at around 1am.
The LC defence secretary rang Muyenga Police Post officers to come to the scene, but they didn’t, citing transport challenges.
After two hours, an officer at Muyenga Police Post claimed that Kabalagala Police Station command told them that the patrol car had a mechanical fault.
The LDU personnel stopped a random driver to help transport Haudini to Muyenga Police Post.
At Muyenga Police Post, the officers on duty informed their commander, who was aware about Haudini’s condition.
The commander told the LC defence secretary to transfer Haudini to Kabalagala Police Division, the main station.
The LC defence secretary offered his motorcycle to transport him there.
However, Kabalagala Police Division declined to detain Haudini because of his worsening health condition.
The police division’s standby officer later called a patrol car to take Haudini to hospital but he died on the way.
