Man jumps to death at Mulago hospital

In Summary

Hajj Kasajja, a lorry driver on Ggaba Road, had reportedly told his wife that some people were demanding their money from him, so he wanted to clear the debts.

Shock gripped Mulago hospital yesterday morning when a 52-year-old man reportedly jumped to his death from the Sixth Floor.

According to Ms Sarah Nanfuka, the wife of Hajj Suleiman Kasajja, he left home saying he was going to work and she was surprised at how he ended up at Mulago hospital.

Hajj Kasajja, a lorry driver on Ggaba Road, had reportedly told his wife that some people were demanding their money from him, so he wanted to clear the debts.

Ms Nanfuka, however, admitted that her husband had been battling some mental problems lately and sometimes had incoherent speech. She added that they suspected that he had some mild dementia but they always accompanied him to Mulago hospital for checkup and this had been going on for some time. “I was surprised to receive a phone call from the police this afternoon informing me that my husband had committed suicide,” Ms Nanfuka said on telephone.

Cases of patients jumping to death from Mulago hospital are not new. Every year, at least one or two cases of such deaths are reported at the national referral hospital. Although the police had not yet ascertained the circumstances under which the father of four took his life, Dr Banterana Byarugaba, the hospital director, said the incident was not strange.

Mental problems
He observed that some people have many mental illnesses that force them to commit suicide. “You always hear about people committing suicide in high rise buildings such as NSSF, Mulago, drowning in lakes and this is normal. These are public places where people can walk in and out without restriction,” he said.

In 2009, a long serving mortuary attendant at the hospital jumped to death from the same floor, following revelations to colleagues on the eve of his death that he had urgent pressing problems. According to Dr Banterana, the hospital will conduct a postmortem to ascertain whether