Family of killed Tanzanian woman asks for Home Affairs minister’s intervention

What you need to know:

  • The family of Adelaide Onesmo, a resident of Lessoroma Village who was killed on February 11, 2019 by six women has sought the intervention of Home Affairs Minister Kangi Lugola.
  • The family has done this because of what they claim as failure by the police to investigate and take appropriate action against the perpetrators of the crime in spite of being given their names.

Rombo. The family of the brutally killed Adelaide Onesmo has sought intervention of Home Affairs Minister Kangi Lugola in the matter.

This comes following what the family alleges to be failure of the local police to take clear action against the alleged perpetrators of the killing in spite of being given their names.

Ms Onesmo, a resident of Lessoroma Village in the Rombo District of Kilimanjaro Region, was killed on February 11, 2019 “by six women who reportedly accused the deceased’s son for stealing cooked food from the home of the chairman of the Village government, Mr Peter Mtorobo.

The child denied the allegations, leading to the villagers brutally assaulting Ms Adelaide Onesmo unto her death.

Speaking to The Citizen, the deceased woman’s daughter, Ms Beatrice Onesmo, said there was clearly no progress being made in investigating the case, in spite of law enforcers being provided with identities of the alleged killers by the child who was accused of stealing the cooked food. This is a Standard Six pupil of Kiraro Primary School located in the Village.

“This is not the first time that a family member is brutally killed – and the police have failed to pursue the matter by making thorough investigation and bringing the perpetrators to justice. That is why we seek intervention of the Home Affairs minister himself,” Ms Beatrice Onesmo explained.

“Our father was killed in a similar incident in 2017, but the police failed to bring them to justice,” she lamented, noting that the family and relatives “were greatly disappointed with the killing of the boy’s mother – and we are highly optimistic that Mr Lugola will help to ensure the perpetrators are fully dealt with under the law.”

Neighbours of the deceased who spoke to The Citizen on condition of anonymity said the failure by the police to arrest the suspects is aimed at protecting the granddaughter of the Village chairman.

“The Village chairman (Mr Peter Mtorobo) is protecting his granddaughter, and claims that Ms Onesmo died from excessive consumption of alcoholic brew. Obviously, this is incorrect – if only because consumption of alcohol could not cause damage at her backbone,” the neighbors claimed severally and together.

According to Beatrice Onesmo, reports have it that Mr Mtorobo’s granddaughter led a team of youngsters who beat up Ms Onesco to death.

“The Village chairman should be made accountable for protecting his granddaughter from police action because she is among the prime suspects of the murder. This has nothing to do with theft of cooked food that her son was accused of stealing,” insisted one neighbor.

When contacted on the telephone, Mr Mtorobo bluntly retorted: “Who are you to ask me about this issue? What does your newspaper have to do with it?”

The chairman of Paralegals in Usseri Division, Mr Telesfori Shirima, said “incidents of cruelty were on the increase in Rombo District, prompting fear among residents who opt not to report such incidents to government authorities.

“Police have been probing the incidents superficially, leaning towards the side that provides them with personal benefits,” the chairman said somewhat enigmatically.

The Kilimanjaro Regional Police Commander, Mr Hamis Issah, said the police were still searching for the suspects in the Ms Adelaide Onesmo murder – and that they will be brought to justice immediately after being arrested.