A 27-year-old woman has been arrested in Kampala for allegedly faking her own kidnap over accumulated debts.
Police say Grace Kyosimire was arrested by Katwe police.
“She had huge debts. She wanted to settle from the ransom her family would pay,” reads part of the police statement issued by Kampala Metropolitan police spokesperson Luke Owoyesigire.
Kyosimire reportedly disappeared from home and started sending messages to her family using her phone claiming that she was in the hands of kidnappers.
The family was asked to pay Shs4 million ransom lest she would be killed.
“Unfortunately for her, Kyosimire’s plan didn’t come through, choosing to change plan and claim she had been killed, asking the family to send money for transporting the body. The family immediately reported a case at Katwe Police Station and using her close friend, Kyosimire was arrested,” added Mr Owoyesigire.
How she was arrested
Her close friend (name withheld) was asked to call her and fix a lunch appointment at a restaurant located at Mega Standard Supermarket, to which she agreed and was eventually arrested.
She is currently detained at Katwe Police on charges of demanding money by menaces.
Not alone
She is the fourth woman to be arrested for faking her own kidnap for ransom in just two months.
The regional police spokesperson, Mr Samson Kasasira, said Ms Meloni Nabaasa, 45, of Kaberebere Town Council in Isingiro District, hid in a friend’s house before demanding Shs3.5m from her brothers in Nyamiyanja Sub-county, Isingiro South, on April 17.
On May 8, court in Kampala remanded a 19-year-old student for staging her own kidnap with the intention of extorting money from her mother.
The suspect Peace Ansiimirwe, a resident of Bushenyi-Ishaka in Bushenyi District appeared before Buganda Road Chief Magistrate Samuel Kagoda alongside her boyfriend one Julius Atwebembirebefore and denied the charges.
On April 15, police said they had arrested a 21-year- old woman who allegedly staged her own kidnap with the intention of extorting money from her boyfriend.
Mariam Uwase, reportedly came up with the idea to get money from her boyfriend who is allegedly mean.
On April 24, police in Mbarara District said they had arrested a woman for allegedly faking her own kidnap and demanding more than Shs3 million ransom from her family.
The regional police spokesperson, Mr Samson Kasasira, said Meloni Nabaasa, 45, of Kaberebere Town Council in Isingiro District, hid in a friend’s house before demanding Shs3.5m from her brothers in Nyamiyanja Sub-county, Isingiro South, on April 17.
