Kiruddu Hospital on Salaama Road in Kampala where the child was taken for treatment
A 16-year-old Primary Seven leaver who allegedly burnt himself to death last Friday suffered from depression, health workers at Kiruddu National Referral Hospital have said.
Abdurahim Rusiba, a resident of Kitende Sisa, Wakiso District, set himself ablaze using petrol.
Dr Edris Kalanzi, the head of burns and reconstructive surgery at Kiruddu hospital, said the deceased had 90 percent of the skin surface area damaged by fire by the time he was rushed to the hospital.
Dr Kalanzi said upon examining their patient before he died, he complained that he was not loved.
“He was brought to the hospital on Friday night and he was severely burnt... he passed on the following day at around 9 am. I think the major issue was the underlying mental health issue, which had both been diagnosed and addressed,” he said.
Dr Kalanzi added: “The whole body was burnt beyond recognition. It was only a small part of his face that survived. When he was asked why he had attempted to commit suicide, he said he was not loved and that it was only his brother who loved him.”
The doctors said by the time he arrived at the hospital, he smelt petrol.
Earlier on, there were reports that the deceased had chosen to take his own life after he did not score Aggregate 4 in the recently released results of the 2023 Primary Leaving Examinations (PLE).
“That is my brother’s son…When the results came back, and he realised that he did not perform to his expectation, he went and wrapped himself in a blanket, poured petrol on himself before he headed to the bathroom and put himself on fire,” a woman who identified herself as the deceased’s aunt, said in an audio recording that has since gone viral on social media.
According to the audio, the incident happened when the parents had gone to work. It was the neighbours who rescued him after they saw smoke billowing from a bathroom outside the family house.
“The neighbours tried to save him but it was a little late. He could have been going through trauma. He must have needed a lot of support and counselling but he had nowhere to offload his issues,” the woman said in the recording.
Dr Kalanzi said patients at the Burns Unit at Kiruddu hospital who attempt to commit suicide in such a manner are adults who have love and work-related issues.
Mr Musa Waligo, the father of the deceased who lives in Kitende-Sisa, Wakiso, told this publication on January 30 that some time back, his son told him that he was going to commit suicide saying he was not loved by his peers and that they used to mock the way he used to talk.
“He suffered from a speech impairment when he was still young. So children could make fun of it. He was a very quiet boy. When he told me about committing suicide. I took him to his maternal grandmother for counselling but he did not change much,” Mr Waligo said.
Mr Waligo said his son’s death could have been triggered by a feeling of not being loved, but not poor results. He said by the time of his son’s death, he had not yet got information about his PLE results even though they were released last Thursday, thus refuting the claims in the viral audio recording.
He said on the fateful day, his son did his usual chores including peeling matooke with his siblings. They then settled in the sitting room to watch television.
“After some time, he got a five-litre jerrycan and walked out of the house. He went and bought petrol, went to the outside bathroom and he set himself on fire. We were not around. It is our neighbours who came and rushed him to hospital,” Mr Waligo said.
