Ibanda remandee succumbed to pneumonia - autopsy report
Lazarus Kahangire, 48, died in prison where he had been remanded
What you need to know:
- The circumstances that surrounded the arrest and the death of the inmate angered residents of Kyembogo cell in Bisheshe Division in Ibanda Municipality to mob a police officer Suleiman Chemonges, who had come to offer security at the burial on Sunday, April 6
A post-mortem report has shown that an inmate who died at a government prison in Ibanda District last week under unclear circumstances succumbed to lobar pneumonia.
Lobar pneumonia is a type of pneumonia where an entire lobe or a large portion of a lobe of the lung is affected by an infection.
The relatives of the deceased (Razaro Kahangire), had lingering questions about the death of their son, whom they suspected could have been poisoned while in Nyabuhikye prison.
“Police arrested my husband on March 18, over land wrangles and was remanded by court to Nyabuhikye Government Prison until April 10 but when I visited him on April 28, he was feeling stomach upset from the prison’s food and I got worried,” Ms Dinavans Atuhaire, 42, wife to the deceased told Daily Monitor last week.
She demanded an explanation from the prison administration about the cause of her husband’s death, as he had no history of any other illness that required urgent treatment.
“My husband didn't have a serious sickness that needed that attention, but I was shocked when they said that he died when I was not aware. I wish they informed us we would have to take him to some advanced facilities to get treatment,” she said.
The circumstances that surrounded the arrest and the death of the inmate angered residents of Kyembogo cell in Bisheshe Division in Ibanda Municipality to mob a police officer Suleiman Chemonges, who had come to offer security at the burial on Sunday, April 6.
The police have since arrested 40 suspects in connection with the mobbing of the police officer, and they are kept at Ibanda Central Police Station cells as investigations continue.
“We have so far 40 people, while others are still at large, but we are going to get them. What is delaying the whole process is that the numbers are big and we need a lot of evidence collected, and we have preferred Murder by mob action, which is equivalent to murder as the charge,” Mr Samson Kasasira, Rwizi Region Police Spokesperson, said.
According to a Pathologist in Ibanda District after carrying out a postmortem, the inmate had died of lobar pneumonia and anemia which clears the allegations from relatives of suspected positioning in prison.
“The stomach and urinary bladder were empty, their walls and muscles were grossly normal. The prostate was not appreciated. The rest of the structures were in their normal anatomic positions and grossly unremarkable. The musculoskeletal system was grossly normal,” reads part of the postmortem report made by a police pathologist in Ibanda on April 7.
The report adds, “cause of death: lobar pneumonia. Comorbidity: Anaemia.”
The prison spokesperson, Mr Frank Baine wondered why people mobbed a police officer before understanding what led to the death of their relative.
“The postmortem report stated the cause of death as lobar pneumonia and anemia. It is regrettable that the mob took the law into their own hands, attacked, and wrongfully killed police officer No. 75290, PC Suleiman Chemonges, who was on duty,” Mr Baine said in a statement posted on X formerly Twitter.
He urged police to ensure that the suspects are arrested and answer to their charges in courts of law.
“Uganda Police Force should ensure that the culprits are brought to book. UPS continues to extend condolences to the families of the police constable and the deceased prisoner,” he said.
