By Denis Edema
Authorities at Jinja regional referral hospital and detectives from Jinja police station have launched a joint inquest into the suspected suicide of a 50-year-old man at the health facility.
The body of Micheal Mukulu, a resident of Rubaga-Mpumudde in Jinja North City Division, was last Friday found hanging in one of the sanitary facilities, the hospital administrator David Ssemakula, who identified the deceased, said.
Mr. Ssemakula, who described the incident as “very sad”, says the deceased had ‘a chronic condition’ and was being managed in Ward Four of the hospital.
“He committed suicide by hanging rope due to reasons that are unknown to all of us; however, we notified Police, which came and took the body to the mortuary awaiting an autopsy,” Mr Ssemakula said over the weekend.
He added that the hospital has contacted the deceased’s relative to corroborate reports that he had some mental health-related issues that prompted him to commit suicide.
Sources told KFM that the deceased has been seen staying in the hospital with a relative, who is a retired (hospital) employee.
“He has been coming here as a relative to that retired staff, and if had some mental disorder, then the family is to blame for abandoning him,” the source said.
Mr Ssemakula, however, wonders how the deceased beat the hospital’s ‘vigilance’, including all-around surveillance by security guards.
“We have full security in place which patrols the facility all day and night with the help of Police, but we realised that we have porous outlets into the hospital through which he might have sneaked,” said Mr Ssemakula.
Jinja regional referral hospital lacks a fence despite being one of the oldest in the country, having been constructed in the 1930s.
