Last week, residents of Ogul in Angaya parish in Paicho Sub County in Gulu district were engulfed in grief following the gruesome murder of a toddler.
The headless body of Joshua Kipa, a 16 months old baby was found in a nearby pit latrine after police fire emergency Unit responded to a distress call by one of the family members.
Police suspects that the mother could be a prime suspect since she went with the boy to the garden but did not return with him that same evening.
On that fateful day, Ms Betty Acan went with the baby to the garden and that was the last time they were seen together.
Acan, a primary school teacher at Ogul Primary School had been receiving treatment after she developed mental health problems in 2010 and 2014.
She is currently being held at Gulu Central Police station for questioning in connection with the shocking death of her son.
Mr Jimmy Patrick Okema, the Aswa Region Police Public Relations Officer (PRO) told the press on Monday afternoon that they received a report on Sunday at around 9:30PM (local time) after the disappearance of the child.
Okema says, “Police immediately responded, leading to the recovery of the body.”
According to Okema, the mother of the boy will be subjected to police form 24 in order to ascertain her mental faculty.
Police also plans to retrieve her medical history from Gulu Regional Referral Hospital mental health clinic where she is reported to have been receiving treatment for the last five years.
This kind of story is not unfamiliar with psychiatrists who attribute it to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PSTD) as a result of what people witnessed during the over two decade brutal war led by the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) rebels.
Prof Emilio Ovuga, a psychiatrist at Gulu University Faculty of Medicine notes that most patients are seeking services from traditional healers because of lack of information and access to modern services.
