Police in Kampala are examining CCTV footage and witness accounts as they piece together the events surrounding the deaths of two children and the stabbing of three others in an attack that has raised fresh questions about violence within the home.
The incident happened at Kalungu Bunga in Ggaba Parish, Makindye Division, Kampala District, where five children were reportedly attacked.
Two of them, 14-year-old Khadija Daisy Traore and Danita Mariam Traore, died from their injuries, while three others survived.
The investigation has since widened beyond the immediate crime scene, with detectives returning to the area on August 21 and obtaining CCTV footage from the surrounding neighbourhood. The recordings are expected to help investigators establish the sequence of events and verify accounts given by those involved.
Statements have also been taken from neighbours and first responders.
Kampala Metropolitan Police spokesperson, Racheal Kawala said investigators were continuing to establish the circumstances surrounding the deaths and injuries, as police pursued the case under charges including murder, attempted murder and arson.
The two children who died were subjected to postmortem examinations before their bodies were handed over to their father.
They were buried at Kololo Muslim Cemetery on August 21.
Three other children survived the attack. Two, aged 13 and 10, were discharged from Mulago Hospital on August 22, while the third remains in hospital in stable condition.
The children’s mother, who was also injured during the incident, remains hospitalised and is reported to be in stable and improving condition.
Police say she was mentally stable when investigators interviewed her on August 22, and that she gave a detailed account of what she says preceded the violence.
In her statement, the woman alleged that prolonged domestic violence between her and her husband had contributed to the events. Police also interviewed the husband, who confirmed that there had been a history of domestic conflict between the couple.
Investigators, however, have not said that the domestic violence allegations establish a motive for the killings. They are being treated as part of the evidence that must be independently examined alongside the CCTV recordings, witness statements, forensic findings and other material gathered during the investigation.
The case has therefore moved beyond competing accounts of what happened inside the family home, with detectives seeking to reconstruct the events through evidence that can withstand scrutiny in court.
Police say the investigation remains active and that, once inquiries are complete, the suspect will be presented before the courts for the appropriate legal proceedings.
The deaths have brought renewed attention to the often-hidden consequences of domestic conflict, particularly when violence within a household places children at the centre of an unfolding family crisis.
Police have appealed to anyone with information that could help establish what happened to come forward as detectives work to determine how the attack unfolded and what led to the deaths of the two children.
