Ugandan opposition leader Bobi Wine says his wife, Barbara Itungo Kyagulanyi, was rushed to hospital after soldiers raided their home in Wakiso District, held her at gunpoint and strangled her while demanding to know his location, according to a report by Guardian Nigeria. Wine said the raid happened while he was not at the property, and that the soldiers looted the home, assaulted a security guard and housemaid, and forcibly took his wife's phone after ordering her to unlock it.
Wine, who went into hiding after a January 15 election he denounced as rigged following President Yoweri Museveni's declared re-election to a seventh term, said his wife remains hospitalized and is dealing with both physical injuries and psychological trauma from the incident. Uganda's military chief, Muhoozi Kainerugaba, has denied that soldiers assaulted Kyagulanyi's wife, dismissing the allegations.
The competing accounts add to an already tense standoff between Wine's opposition movement and the government in the aftermath of the disputed vote, with Wine's supporters pointing to the episode as further evidence of a security crackdown they say has targeted his family and party officials since the election.