A 28-year-old man killed his five-month-old baby boy before hanging himself in a classroom at Gulu Town School, in Laroo division on Tuesday night.
By Arthur Okot
A 28-year-old man killed his five-month-old baby boy before hanging himself in a classroom at Gulu Town School, in Laroo division on Tuesday night.
Kenneth Komakech from Forest Ward hanged himself using a bed-sheet.
His son’s body was discovered an hour later in a room at DC Bar and Lodging in Gulu town.
Komakech’s body was discovered by pupils who went early to school, according to local councillor Charles Onen.
The baby’s corpse was found after the lodging room was opened using a key recovered from the father’s trouser pocket.
The family had spent the night searching for him.
The search was prompted by a phone call he made to his stepmother at around 8:00am, saying he had killed his son and was about to commit suicide.
The stepmother, Grace Odongpiny, said Komakech switched off his phone when the family started dissuading him from taking his life.
She said the deceased had also wanted to kill his girlfriend (names withheld), a counsellor attached to The Aids Organisation (TASO) in Gulu, who he accused of infecting him with HIV.
Odongpiny stated that Komakech told his family that the girlfriend tricked him when he asked her to go for a blood test before they could engage in unprotected sex.
She allegedly convinced Komakech to let her take their blood samples from home since she was a TASO employee and later came back with fake results. It was only after he went for an individual test that he discovered he was HIV positive.
The girlfriend reportedly admitted concealing the results, saying she had wanted to save the relationship.
Odongpiny explained that the woman later fled, leaving the child behind.
The threats to his girlfriend were reported to the Police who embarked on a search for Komakech for threatening violence.