BUKOMANSIMBI, UGANDA: The administration and entire community at St. Jude Thaddeus Primary School in Bukomansimbi Town Council are mourning one of their pupils who mysteriously passed under yet-to-be-established circumstances.
The deceased identified as Paulo Luyimbazi, 15, a Primary Seven pupil who was about to sit for his PLE early next month was yesterday (Thursday, October 20) found lying dead on the floor of the school library after he was told to report to the school headteacher’s office.
According to his classmates, Luyimbazi had been accused of breaking the school rules and was last seen alive going to the school library instead of the headteacher’s office as he had been instructed to do.
“We saw him yesterday and today morning. They told him to go to the headteacher’s office but he instead went to the library and committed suicide,” one of the pupils told journalists at the school.
Bukomansimbi Town Council Mayor Christophe Ssekikubo, who was among the first responders, said the deceased had a rope tied around his neck. “The rope was like these which they use to tie coffee sacks,” Mayor Ssekikubo said.
The death of Luyimbazi has left relatives and his colleagues divided on the motive behind the suicide.
When his relatives arrived at the school, police had closed off the premises. It took intervention of some people to let them access the premises.
Speaking to the press, the relatives alleged that the school had subjected their child to extreme punishments that bordered on torture.
“This school always gives corporal punishments to our children. How can a pupil be punished with 80 strokes of the cane?” one of the relatives wondered.
Another relative lamented that they had cleared the school requirements and preparing to visit him on Sunday, October 23, to give him words of encouragement for the upcoming Primary Leaving Examinations.
“On Saturday last week, October 15, I was at school. I paid all school dues but I failed to see him. This Sunday is their visitation day so I was planning to come and motivate him for the upcoming PLE exams that he was about to do,” one of the relatives said.
The Resident District Commissioner for Bukomansimbi, Jane Frances Kagaayi, who accompanied the Mayor, asked teachers to establish harmonious relationships with pupils to avoid such incidences in schools.
The school administration declined to comment on the matter while the motive of the suicide remained unknown at the time of filing the story.
The deceased’s body was later taken to Masaka Regional Referral Hospital for a postmortem to be conducted.
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