Locals in Namayingo Town council are mourning the loss of a 12 -year -old child who allegedly committed suicide under unclear circumstances.
The deceased, identified as one Egesa Patrick alias Ege, is a pupil at Goodwill Nursery and Primary School, and a resident of Namayingo South Cell, Namayingo Town Council in Namayingo District.
Egesa’s lifeless body was found by his relatives on Saturday morning, hanging on a wire in his grandmother’s bedroom. At the time of his demise, Egesa was living at his grandmother’s residence with a few relatives.
Locals allege that the deceased confided in his peers that he would commit suicide because he was frustrated. Akubwa Aksha, a cousin to the deceased says Egesa threatened to commit suicide, on Friday at around
4:30pm while the two played outside.
Aksha says he didn’t take the cousin’s statements seriously at the time because he was laughing when he said it and failed to explain reasons for his proclamation.
Fred Enanga, the Police Spokesperson, says preliminary investigations indicate that the victim picked a gauze wire from the bedroom and hanged himself to death.
Enanga says incidents of suicide among children and teenagers are on the increase because the majority are dealing with unresolved issues with nowhere to vent out their anger.
He says suicide attempts are associated with feelings of stress, self-doubt, pressure to succeed, financial uncertainty, disappointment and loss.
“For some teen, suicide may seem to be a solution to their problems. Often it’s impulsive and associated with feelings of sadness, confusion, anger or problems with attention and hyperactivity. Other factors include; family history of suicide attempts, exposure to violence, impulsivity, aggressive or disruptive behavior, bullying, total rejection etc.” he says
Enanga has asked parents to be on the lookout for children making suicidal statements like ‘I wish I was dead’, ‘I won’t be a problem for you much longer’, ‘what does it mean to die or what happens when you die’.
He says other worrying signs include changes in eating or sleeping habits, pervasive sadness, withdrawal from friends, decline in quality of school work, preoccupied with death etc.
A few studies in Uganda have indicated that suicidal ideation among youth in Uganda is high in rural areas (21.6%) Other studies have reported suicide ideation to be 24% among young people living in urban areas of Uganda.
Uganda National Institute of Public Health (UNIPH) Quarterly Epidemiological Bulletin, code puts suicide rates at 18 percent, with men standing at a higher risk than their females.
