Grief engulfed residents of Vanguard Cell in Pece-Laroo Division in Gulu City on Saturday after a woman stabbed her two biological children, killing one on the spot before attempting suicide. Cathy Ayaa reportedly stabbed the minors from their rented home on Saturday morning.
Police identified the victims as four-year-old Evans Gimara who died on the spot and 3-months- old Precious Atim who is fighting for her life in hospital. Patrick Kidega, the Officer in Charge of Gulu Central Police Station, says that the suspect later turned the knife on herself and attempted to commit suicide by cutting her throat after stabbing the minors.
He notes that preliminary reports indicate the suspect fatally stabbed four-year-old Gimara several times in the chest while Atim sustained several stab wounds in the stomach. Kidega says the suspect and her daughter were all rushed in critical condition to Gulu Regional referral hospital for emergency medical treatment.
“The suspect is currently at the Intensive Care Unit and on Oxygen, while her daughter has received an emergency operation to stitch an open wound on her stomach,” Kidega told Uganda Radio Network in an interview Saturday. According to Kidega, police are yet to establish the suspect’s motive.
“For now we don’t know what happened, in any case, the suspect makes it alive out of the ICU, we shall get to understand more from her,” said Kidega. Jennifer Ayugi, a neighbor who responded to the crime scene, says that the suspect first closed her door before stabbing the children in the absence of her husband.
According to Ayugi, the suspect had previously accused her husband of having an extramarital affair and failing to adequately provide for his family’s basic needs. She notes that the suspect was spotted Saturday morning by some builders while attempting to dump one of the minors she stabbed in a neighbor’s pit latrine before residents were called for help.
The LC I Chairperson of Vanguard Ward, Andrew Nyeko, says that he hadn’t received any complaint from the suspect regarding her marital affairs or challenges she faced and wondered what drove her to commit the crime. Meanwhile, the Police in Gulu City are holding 38-year-old Patricia Lanyero in connection to the death of her husband who was allegedly hacked by unknown assailants.
Alfred Okidi, a truck driver was reportedly hacked on the head using a machete from his house in Pece Cubu A & B on Wednesday morning. According to the Police Annual Crime report of 2022, the Aswa River Region registered a total of 216 homicide cases.
