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A landlord in Uganda has become the latest victim of ‘self-immolation’ following similar cases in the recent months in the country.
Andrew Mukiibi, 28, set himself on fire and died over challenges suspected to be related to finances.
The incident happened on Thursday afternoon at about 2:30pm.
According to a police officer at the scene, who preferred anonymity since he is not allowed to speak to the press, the now deceased Mukiibi, picked a jerrycan full of petrol from his car at around lunch time and went with it in one of the toilets at his rentals.
The officer said the neighbours did not take keen interest in what he was going to do with the jerrycan until they heard him crying out loud.
“When they rushed to his rescue, they found him engulfed in fire. By the time, they put out the fire, he had sustained severe burns and died on the spot. The police later picked the body and took it,” the officer told Daily Monitor.
Incidents of people attempting or actually burning themselves started to emerge since the Ugandan government imposed a lockdown in its efforts to contain the spread of the deadly coronavirus in the country. Whereas it was done in ‘good faith’, the lockdown left several Ugandans in financial distress as it caught many by surprise.
Just recently, a deputy head teacher in Wakiso District, set himself ablaze and died reportedly due to financial challenges. Another teacher burnt himself to death in Eastern Uganda when he failed to get money to feed his family.
The police officers’ attempts to understand why Mukiibi took his life hadn’t yielded results since deceased’s wife, whom they wanted to talk to, collapsed and was still unconscious in hospital, where she was rushed by press time. But some neighbours told police that the deceased had financial challenges.
