Kalungu Boy Survives Week-Long Kidnapping Ordeal After Abductors Abandon Him

A 15-year-old boy in Kalungu District has been reunited with his family after spending a terrifying week in captivity. Joseph Kateregga, a recent Primary Leaving Examinations candidate, was dumped alive by his captors in Ntale Village on the night of November 12, ending a seven-day ordeal that began when he was snatched from his home.

Kateregga’s ordeal started on the night of Friday, November 6, shortly after he finished his national exams. Unidentified assailants raided the family homestead in Kalungu Rural Village while he was sleeping, whisking him away on a waiting motorcycle before his mother could intervene.

Throughout the week, the abductors subjected the family to intense psychological torture through multiple phone calls. They initially demanded Shs50 million, later shifting the figure and falsely claiming they had severed two of the teenager’s fingers to force compliance. The ransom demands eventually peaked at Shs60 million before the suspects abruptly went silent and abandoned the boy.

According to the Masaka Regional Police Spokesperson, Mr Twaha Kasirye, the kidnappers likely felt overwhelmed and dropped the teenager under the cover of darkness without causing any physical harm. Kateregga was subsequently taken to Masaka Regional Referral Hospital for medical and psychological evaluations. Police investigations and joint security operations remain active to track down the masked perpetrators. Read more details about this story on Daily Monitor.