Kampala — POLICE in the city on Monday arrested 15 people, 12 of them students of Kampala International University, in connection with the murder of a woman they are suspected to have first gang-raped.

All the 12 students are Kenyan and Tanzanian nationals. They were picked up from a hostel close to where the woman's body was discovered on Monday morning. The other three included two local guards at a nearby parking yard and a caretaker of a bar in the vicinity. They were rounded up by officers from Kabalagala Police Station and detained.

The body of the woman in her mid 30's, who the Police suspect to have been a prostitute, was discovered near a hostel close to the usually bubbly Capital Pub in Kabalagala, a city suburb. The pub is fabled for its raunchy night life and an endless stream of twilight girls. The suburb is frequented by tourists and locals.

At the time of the bizarre discovery, the body lay with the face downwards, the skirt a few metres away and knickers pulled to the knees.

Blood was oozing from her private parts, a sign of a vicious assault, the Police said. "There were no signs of strangulation, but it is clear that one or more people could have raped her, resulting into the death," Kabalagala Police boss Muzafari Zirabamuzale said yesterday. The Police suspect that the crime could have been committed elsewhere and the body dumped in the place. The body bore bruises on the buttocks and waist, an indication that it was dragged from elsewhere, the Police said.

Zirabamuzale said the students were arrested following evidence that the body was dragged from the hostel. "There were clear signs that the body was dragged from the hostel. This suggests that the crime was committed in the hostel. That is why we rounded them up," he said.

The two guards, the Police noted, could provide clues about the incident because the parking yard, where they were, is near the place where the body was found. The Police also said the bar attendant could also be having some information to help the investigations.

The body was taken to Mulago Hospital for a post-mortem examination. The incident comes against a backdrop of increasing cases of homicide countrywide.