Woman burns self, children to death
Dec 17, 2009
A WOMAN in a Kampala city suburb yesterday burned to death her two children and severely injured three others before committing suicide. Her 12-year-old son, Ibra Muwonge, died instantly.
By Andante Okanya
A WOMAN in a Kampala city suburb yesterday burned to death her two children and severely injured three others before committing suicide.
Hajjat Aisha Nayiga is reported to have herded her five children into one of the rooms in her husband’s incomplete house, doused it in petrol and set it ablaze. She later threw herself in the fire.
Her 12-year-old son, Ibra Muwonge, died instantly. The other four, Zufa Nantaba, 10, Halima Nabukenya, 8, Nuswaiba Nabukeera,6 and Zaifa, four months, were rescued and rushed to Mulago hospital by the Police. Nabukenya died on the way to the hospital.
Nayiga, 30, who lived in Maganjo Semuwemba zone in Wakiso district, set the house ablaze at about 1:00pm after a light afternoon drizzle.
Neighbours whom The New Vision talked to said Nayiga was seen at midday carrying a five-litre jerrycan of petrol. She is said to have called all her children and told them to get indoors.
“When some of them resisted, she dragged them into one of the rooms, and tied them onto their beds,†Shadia Nantale, a neighbour and eyewitness, said. Little did the neighbours know that she was going to set the house ablaze.
Minutes later, they heard wails from the house. They rushed there to put out the fire.
Nayiga is reported to have terminated her maid’s services a day before and warned her sister-in-law, Hajara Nantaba, of her plan to kill herself and the children. Nantaba, who was in the city centre, rushed to Nayiga’s home but she arrived too late.
Frederick Mukwaya, a close friend to the family, said Nayiga was probably incensed after she got information that her husband, Numan Kagugube, was planning to take a second wife.
“Nayiga heard that her husband was planning to marry a second wife and she did not agree with it. Maybe that is why she decided to perish with her children,†Mukwaya said.
The neighbour said Nayiga had earlier confided in her friends that she would never let her children be under the care of a co-wife.
Police officers spent the afternoon yesterday at the scene, inspecting the house and taking statements from residents. Nayiga’s husband, a builder, was said to be on a work trip.
There have been several family tragedies as a result of marital problems in recent years. Last year, Margaret Kasande, living in Kamwokya, another city suburb, strangled her three children, aged four, three and 18 months. She tried to kill herself but survived and was admitted to Butabika hospital.
In 2007, Abdallah Byekwaso of Kibaale district took a machete and hacked to death his wife and six children before hanging himself. Only one of his children, a girl who was staying with a relative in a nearby village, survived.
A WOMAN in a Kampala city suburb yesterday burned to death her two children and severely injured three others before committing suicide.
Hajjat Aisha Nayiga is reported to have herded her five children into one of the rooms in her husband’s incomplete house, doused it in petrol and set it ablaze. She later threw herself in the fire.
Her 12-year-old son, Ibra Muwonge, died instantly. The other four, Zufa Nantaba, 10, Halima Nabukenya, 8, Nuswaiba Nabukeera,6 and Zaifa, four months, were rescued and rushed to Mulago hospital by the Police. Nabukenya died on the way to the hospital.
Nayiga, 30, who lived in Maganjo Semuwemba zone in Wakiso district, set the house ablaze at about 1:00pm after a light afternoon drizzle.
Neighbours whom The New Vision talked to said Nayiga was seen at midday carrying a five-litre jerrycan of petrol. She is said to have called all her children and told them to get indoors.
“When some of them resisted, she dragged them into one of the rooms, and tied them onto their beds,†Shadia Nantale, a neighbour and eyewitness, said. Little did the neighbours know that she was going to set the house ablaze.
Minutes later, they heard wails from the house. They rushed there to put out the fire.
Nayiga is reported to have terminated her maid’s services a day before and warned her sister-in-law, Hajara Nantaba, of her plan to kill herself and the children. Nantaba, who was in the city centre, rushed to Nayiga’s home but she arrived too late.
Frederick Mukwaya, a close friend to the family, said Nayiga was probably incensed after she got information that her husband, Numan Kagugube, was planning to take a second wife.
“Nayiga heard that her husband was planning to marry a second wife and she did not agree with it. Maybe that is why she decided to perish with her children,†Mukwaya said.
The neighbour said Nayiga had earlier confided in her friends that she would never let her children be under the care of a co-wife.
Police officers spent the afternoon yesterday at the scene, inspecting the house and taking statements from residents. Nayiga’s husband, a builder, was said to be on a work trip.
There have been several family tragedies as a result of marital problems in recent years. Last year, Margaret Kasande, living in Kamwokya, another city suburb, strangled her three children, aged four, three and 18 months. She tried to kill herself but survived and was admitted to Butabika hospital.
In 2007, Abdallah Byekwaso of Kibaale district took a machete and hacked to death his wife and six children before hanging himself. Only one of his children, a girl who was staying with a relative in a nearby village, survived.