Kitgum man hangs self over family wrangles
The deceased spent the money on boozing, yet they had agreed to save it to pay school fees for their children.
By Christopher Nyeko
Kitgum: Residents of Guda village, Pugoda East parish, Namokora sub-county, Kitgum district, woke up on Thursday in a somber mood following the death of one of their local members, who was discovered dead in his grass-thatched house.
The lifeless body of Arop Daniel 39 was discovered hanging on a rope by his wife, who had just returned from Kungul village, Omiya-Pacuha sub-county in Agago district, to pick up their daughter, who was living with their relatives.
Mr. Samuel Okema, one of the locals, told ugreports.co.ug that the deceased recently had a misunderstanding with his wife, who reported him to the elders to tame Arop, now deceased, for spending the money they had raised from selling one of their butchered cows on Christmas day.
According to Okema, the deceased spent the money on boozing, yet they had agreed to save it to pay school fees for their children.
Okema further stated that the elder had resolved this disagreement, and since then, the couple has been reportedly living in harmony. However, the deceased was spotted on Wednesday at the Guda trading center drinking excessive alcohol.
Geoffrey Opyet, the Namokora subcounty LCIII chairperson, confirmed this incident, saying police have visited the scene of the crime and have guided the family to bury their son after establishing that the deceased had succumbed to committing suicide by hanging.
Opyet reveals that his people are currently engaging in a numbers of unusual activities such as alcoholism, rape, theft, fighting due to the persistent invasion of stray animals from the Karenga conservation area, which destroyed their gardens and homes, persistent cattle raiding by suspected Karamojong raiders, and the negative effect of climate change. These factors he says, have negatively affected the social-economic status and mental well-being of many locals.
Local leaders are now appealing to the development partners and NGOs in the district, especially those whose operations focus on psychosocial support to render their services to the people of Namaokora who are battling with adverse mental challenges.
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