By Alexander Mackey Okori

Police in Kaabong District are investigating an incident in which a 28-year- old woman was electrocuted on Friday, while plucking leaves of a desert date tree, locally known as “Ekorete” or “Ecomai”, a vital delicacy and food source in Karamoja.

Pauline Paka, a resident of Nakarachi village, Kachemi Chemi parish in Kalapata town council died instantly after she accidentally touched an electric wire in the process of plucking desert date leaves.

Kalisto Narusha, the Kidepo Regional Community Liaison Officer (CLO) who also serves as the acting Regional Police Spokesperson, said that incident reportedly occurred at around 6:00pm.

“The deceased was discovered hanging on top of the desert date tree on Saturday morning at around 8:00 am by the LCI chairperson of Nakarachi village Christopher Loculu”, said Narusha.

According to Narusha, Loculu, who reported the incident to police and the scene of crime officers, visited and documented the scene.

“The scene was visited by a team of Uganda Electricity Distribution Company Limited (UDCL) and police from Kalapata police station and retrieved the body, Narusha stated.

The body according to Narusha was then taken to Kaabong General Hospital for autopsy, pending further inquiries.

Narusha cautioned members of the public to avoid getting in contact with electric wires to avoid incidents of electrocution.