Police and prison authorities are investigating circumstances under which a 19 year old suspect identified as Opio Brian Kau died on a remand at Gulu central prison.
The deceased identified as Opio Brian 18 was allegedly beaten to death at Gulu central Prison by fellow inmates at the beginning of last week.
Opio who was arrested on Monday by police on night patrol and remanded to Gulu central prison charged with rouge and vagabondism died on Thursday.
According to a former inmate who identified himself as Okwanye Sadam,21 the deceased was badly beaten by fellow inmates upon arrival at the detention facility.
Okwanye confessed that Opio was beaten by fellow inmates for touching a door he was not supposed to touch.
He said that the deceased had his hands tied behind him and beaten by his colleagues while he screamed but prison officers on duty did not come to his rescue.
But the Officer in Charge Gulu central prison, Ms Margaret Obwonya Orik, she has not yet confirmed whether Opio died of beating at the prison facility or of any other cause.
She says they were still investigating the cause of his death.
A postmortem report indicates that the deceased died of hepatitis B but family members are disputing the report.
They on Tuesday morning stormed the office of the resident district commissioner Gulu seeking for its intervention in the matter.
Mr. Samuel Oyet, the youth counselor for Laroo division where the deceased hails from said that they are not satisfied with the postmortem carried out which indicates that the youth died due to hepatitis B infection yet body signs clearly show that the deceased was just beaten.
Apio Agnes, mother of the deceased says that her son was not sick in any way and was just murdered in prison.
‘‘Opio’s father just died last month, now I have to bury my son too,’’ Apio said in tears.
Mr Andrew Awany, rhe RDC who is also the head of security in district condemned the acts of prison officers who he said were negligent to the extent that such an incident occurred under their watch.
He says fresh investigation is to be carried out in order to ascertain whether Opio died of beating or happitites B as stated by the postmortem report.
Awany noted that the family is also free to carry out their independent postmortem as other processes continue.
The RDC says that thou there are few cases of inmates being beating up fellow inmates an isolated incident occurred in Lugore Prison where an inmate beat up his fellow inmate to an extent that the latter almost lost an eye.
