Busia woman found dead in river after going missing last week

A woman who went missing at her home in Butula subcounty in Busia county last week has been found dead.

The body of Belinda Kwena, 65, was discovered at River Sio in Samia, Funyula.

Police have launched investigations to establish whether she was killed elsewhere and her body dumped in the river or whether she drowned.

Namboboto/ Nambuku senior chief Lilian Wesonga who confirmed the incident said the woman’s immediate family members arrived at the scene and positively identified her as their kin.

“Some family members after we circulated the information, knowing that their relative was missing came and identified her as a family member,” Wesonga told reporters.

The woman went missing at her home in Lugulu, Butula subcounty last week and relatives have been burning the midnight oil to establish her whereabouts with reports of her disappearance to local authorities bearing no fruit until Tuesday when her body was discovered in the water at river Sio.

The body was found in the Sidonge area along the river.

Her husband Shaban Kilui said the family had expected to find her alive.

The body has been taken to St Francis Hospital Mortuary where a postmortem will be conducted to ascertain the cause of her death.

Another relative Daniel Kwena said her search widened to Uganda where some relatives had been tasked to mount a search with the help of local Uganda authorities.

Incidents of people going missing in Busia are not common.

The discovery of Kwena’s body happened at a time when the Director of Criminal Investigations Chief Mohamed Amin assembled a specially trained team of investigators to expedite investigations in femicide cases reported in the country.

In a statement on Tuesday, Amin vowed to avail all capacity and resources at his disposal for the team to deliver on its mandate.

“These killings have cast a dark shadow over our safety and security endeavours; we must put this menace to end with remarkable speed and finality,” he said.

The team which comprises criminal intelligence analysts and forensic experts has been tasked to come up with swift and comprehensive preventive strategies to address sexual offences and murder incidents involving women.

On Saturday, women groups and rights activists led Kenyans in Nairobi and across major urban towns in holding peaceful protests to call for action in ending the surging murders involving women.