The territorial police in Dokolo District have registered an incident of suicide by arson involving Acio Lonah and her 3-month-old baby, Ayika Gertrude, which occurred on November 26, 2024, at around 14:00 hours. The report was made to the police by Olum Bob, aged 40.
According to SP Okema, it is alleged that Odur Jimmy separated from Acio Lonah’s mother, Angwec Agnes, but their daughter remained with her father. Later, Acio Lonah went to stay with her mother in Rego-Rego village, where her mother took her to work as a housemaid in Mbale District.
Odur complained, and the mother brought her back home, but by then, Acio was pregnant and had developed some mental illness.
Acio continued staying with her father until she delivered a baby girl, named Ayika Gertrude. Preliminary findings indicate that Acio had made several attempts to burn herself and the baby but had always been rescued.
On November 26, 2024, at around 14:00 hours, it is alleged that Acio stayed at home alone with her baby. She locked herself in her grass-thatched house and set it on fire, resulting in both her and her baby burning to death. The matter was later reported to Amwoma Police Post.
According to SP Jimmy Patrick Okema, the OC of Amwoma Police Post informed CPS Dokolo, and the homicide team and SOCO responded. A postmortem was conducted at the scene, and the bodies were handed over to the relatives for burial.
The mother of the deceased, Angwec Agnes, was taken to the police for her safety as the relatives of the deceased were blaming her for taking Acio to Mbale, where she developed a mental illness.
“It’s a very sad incident. We call upon relatives who have persons with mental illness to always be very close to them to prevent such tragic steps of taking away life,” stated the Police PRO for North Kyoga.
