A 13-year-old boy has allegedly hanged himself at Busiisi west Cell in West Division, Hoima City amidst local residents’ suspicions over circumstances surrounding his death.
The deceased identified as Reagan Murungi purportedly committed suicide inside his parents’ rented room last evening (Friday) at 6pm for yet to be known reasons.
The deceased’s mother, Sylvia Katusiime, told Kazi-njema News that her son had spent two days with his aunt in Hoima city and had just returned home hours back before the heinous act.
Katusiime said sooner than the incident, the deceased had told her how he wanted to go back to his aunt’s place to which she was not objected but told him to first help her in the tree nursery bed at Rwenkondwa River just a stone’s throw across the road.
The deceased’s mother narrated that her son later crossed back home leaving his hoe at the nursery bed only to be told by her other son that Murungi had died some few minutes later.
However, some residents and onlookers including Johnson Amanya wondered how the deceased’s father whose identity was not revealed left home as his son’s lifeless body dangled on a rope inside the house saying ‘the police will handle the matter’ while his mother stayed at her nursery bed untroubled yet well aware that their son had died.
Analysts at the scene also questioned how the teenager died by the rope with eyes closed and the rope so loose around the nape.
John Mackenzie, the Busiisi west cell chairman, also doubted how the teen had committed suicide given the features on the body and the rope and the way the deceased’s parents conducted themselves.
He also said despite knowing that his son had died, the father left home carefree while the mother went on with her work at the nursery bed relaxed.
The chairman called for thorough police investigation into the death of the young boy.
Edwin Busiinge, a resident of Busiisi said it was the first suicide case he had ever seen involving a person at such a young age, suspecting that the parents meted out torture to their deceased child. He urged all parents to stop brutality against their children and be responsible in bringing them up.
Police arrived at the scene and took the body away to Hoima Regional Referral Hospital for postmortem.
By publication time, a postmortem report had not yet been released.
On March 3, 2021, the Bishop of Bunyoro Kitara Diocese, the Rt Rev Samuel Kahuma, condemned the many murderous acts that he described as sadistic and ungodly.
