Missing teen girl’s parents hope it isn’t third time lucky

On January 11, a teenage girl was reported missing from her aunt’s home at Ssaza Village in Nyendo-Mukungwe Division, Masaka City. The disappearance was troubling in itself, but the fact that Gloria Akankwasa, 16, twice unsuccessfully tried to take her life compounded things.

When security operatives in the district mounted a search for the missing girl, they would be confronted with an even more disturbing discovery. Ms Akankwasa had been diarising her thoughts from 2021 until the time she was reported missing.

After poring through the logs in her diary, the security operatives found some rather unsettling entries. The 16-year-old Senior Two student at Masaka Secondary School warned her parents against engaging the media in an attempt to establish her whereabouts. She vowed to take her life if her parents dared to do this. Yet this is exactly what they have done.

By January 20, Ms Akankwasa’s whereabouts were not yet known. The portrait that security operatives have, however, managed to sketch from entries to her diary is that of a troubled soul.

“I started experiencing this during the Covid-19 lockdown because of the idleness. Wicked thoughts struck my weak mind and by the time you took me to the computer studies, it was too late,” she wrote in one of her diary entries, adding, “I needed real treatment but you did not know that and I do not blame you.”

Troubled mind

Ms Violet Mbabazi, the mother of the missing girl, told this publication in a January 15 interview that her daughter has twice attempted to take her life. The first attempt was in 2021 following President Museveni’s televised address in which he cleared markets and the transport sector but still kept schools under lock and key. This was during the country’s Covid-19 lockdown.

“My daughter complained that she was tired of staying home. Two weeks after that address, we found her lying down unconscious,” Ms Mbabazi revealed, adding, “She had doused herself with a pesticide meant to spray the cows. She got better after receiving medical treatment.”

When the schools reopened early last year, Ms Akankwasa appeared to be bedding in well. During one of the visitation days, she left her mother shell-shocked when she recounted another attempt on her life.

“My daughter narrated how something had directed her to go and be drowned in a lake and at times crash herself into a moving vehicle,” Ms Mbabazi said, adding, “The second time that my daughter attempted to commit suicide was at school in September 2022 when a fellow student found her trying to drink jik, a chemical used as a detergent.”

Revisiting January 11

Ms Margaret Kaliisa, the aunt of the missing girl, told Sunday Monitor that on January 11, she rang home to find out how her niece was faring.

Ms Kaliisa had a gut feeling that something had gone awry after Ms Akankwasa failed to pass by her shop to have lunch at 1pm. When it clocked 2pm and Ms Akankwasa was still a no-show, her aunt was thrown into a panic.

“I rang home to find out why Akankwasa had not come to the shop, but her other young daughter revealed that Akankwasa was not at home,” Ms Kaliisa told Sunday Monitor, adding, “I thought that she had possibly gone to visit some friends, but when I returned at 9pm, she was not yet home. This was a big scare because she had never got back home late.”

At night, the family tried to inquire from the neighbourhood but no-one seemed to have an idea where she was.

On the morning of January 12, after going through a troubled night without catching sleep, the family reported a missing person case at Masaka Central Police Station.

The police swung into action and searched the home where they recovered the diary with troubling entries.

Mr Twaha Kasirye, the Greater Masaka Region acting police spokesperson, said they registered a case of a missing girl on January 14 and have joined the family to try and find Ms Akankwasa.

Mental awareness

Ms Shifa Kateregga, the director of Human Rights Defenders in the Greater Masaka, in an interview with this newspaper, said it appears Ms Akankwasa was under a lot of stress.

“Her first attempt to kill herself was already an indicator of a troubled mind. The parents thought that after schools opened following a prolonged Covid-19 lockdown, everything had normalised,” Ms Kateregga said, adding, “Many children are going through different psychological torture, but the parents are not aware.”

Ms Katerega advised the government to introduce mental health education in schools to help the children overcome some of the challenges they are grappling with.

Who is Akankwasa

Ms Akankwasa’s parents describe their daughter as a reserved but hardworking girl.

They add that despite keeping to herself, she always accomplished all her assignments on time. This included doing different house chores.

“She did not want to speak to anyone. We ask the public to help us find her. In case you find her, don’t assault her,” Ms Mbabazi said.

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