By Mabinty M. Kamara
The death of a young lad in Kissy that began as a suicide investigation has turned into suspicion of murder.
19-year-old Abu Bakar Kamara’s body was found on Thursday 3rd October in a position that suggested that he hanged himself.
But the result of a postmortem conducted by Dr Simeon Owiz Koroma, according to information received by Politico, shows that the boy died as a result of strangulation.
According to sources, the police have made at least four arrests following the release of the autopsy report.
The late Abu Bakar was an SSS 2 pupil at the Sierra Leone Muslim Congress Secondary School. He was found hanged from the ceiling of his room.
The police at the Kissy Division, which are investigating the matter, have refused to comment to Politico about it, despite several attempts to get the official version of the story.
Chum Pong, as the deceased was commonly known, was living with his friend the last two years. Francis Kamara, the owner of the house and their host, explained to Politico the circumstances under which Chum Pong ended up staying with him and his family.
"My nephew brought two of them here, but I told them I can only accommodate them if their parents consented to their stay. And later, Abu Bakarr brought his mum who pleaded for him to stay since my place is closer to his school. And so, I accepted and ever since she has been coming here to check on her son’s welfare," Francis explained.
As a hobby, Chum Pong also reportedly rode a commercial motorcycle (Okada).
Francis said Chum Pong’s mum pleaded for him to pay attention to his schooling. He said the boy was doing so until he noticed recently that he’d stopped attending school for some days. Francis further said that when he asked the deceased, he replied that he had some problem at school.
"That was on Monday, and on Wednesday again, my wife promised to report him to his mother that he had not been going to school. He just walked off until Thursday morning when he told me: ‘uncle today I’m going to school’. He ironed his uniform and was set for school.”
Francis said he didn’t notice when Chum Pong returned from school, until his roommate told him later that evening that he had been knocking at the door without response.
Chum Pong’s friend and roommate, Mohamed Kamara, told Politico that he needed to collect something urgently from the room, and the lack of response raised suspicion.
"After, I called Uncle [Francis] to come and talk so that he [Chum Pong] will open the door. I looked through the space on top of the door where I noticed that he was standing… I observed that he had hung himself. So we forced our way through the door and we found him hanging by the rope," Mohamed narrated.
After discovering the body, Francis said he rushed to the community Chief and the Kissy Mess Mess Police Station to report the incident.
Francis and Mohamed are among those said to have been detained by the police.
Because the Police investigator has refused to talk to Politico, we haven’t been able to ascertain the exact number of people arrested or their identity.
The compound where the incident occurred is situated just a few meters away from the Sierra Leone Muslim Congress Secondary School.
The principal of the school also declined to comment, when approached by Politico, claiming he could only do so if the school had received any official report of the incident.
However, the Vice Principal later told Politico that the Exams Officer in the school confirmed that Chum Pong did attend class on the day of his demise.
Photos of him accessed by Politico show that he was a lively lad. And his uncle, Francis, attested to this. He said he didn’t notice any unusual behavior from the boy that could suggest that he would want to take any hash decision like this.
“I have never noticed any abnormal behavior from him, nor has he been aggressive. And I never noticed him on any drugs because I observe them from time to time, except If he does that outside this compound,” he said.
© 2019 Politico Online
