Police Rescue Suspect After Three-Year-Old Boy Is Beheaded in Namutumba

What the report says

Police in Namutumba District say they rescued a 25-year-old suspect from an angry mob after his arrest over the killing of his three-year-old stepson in Bulyansala Village. The man, identified by police as Halid Zibwa of Bugali Village in Mpumiro Parish, Bulange Sub-county, was detained on Friday, October 16, 2026, after the child was reported missing and later found dead.

According to the account published by Nile Post, the boy, Junior Tiba, had been with his mother, Joan Mukodan, while she was picking groundnuts in a garden when the suspect allegedly left with him under the pretext of playing. When he did not return, the mother raised the alarm and a search began. Police said the child’s body was later discovered with his head severed from the body.

Residents reportedly helped search for the boy and then apprehended the suspect after receiving information linking him to the death. An enraged crowd then tried to lynch him, but officers intervened and took him into custody. Busoga East police spokesperson Michael Kasadha said investigators visited the scene, the body was taken to Nsinze Health Centre IV mortuary for postmortem examination, and the suspect was held at Namutumba Central Police Station.

Police said initial findings suggest the suspect was a known drug addict and urged parents to closely watch their children and report drug abuse in their communities. The case remains under investigation.