Tiriki elders caned the body of an old man who committed suicide on Thursday morning, in line with their culture, delaying police from collecting it.
The body of Moses Dombido, a 62-year-old father of ten, was found hanging from a rope in the living room of his house at Gavudunyi Village in Gisambai.
In the Tiriki culture, a person who kills himself by hanging is caned heavily to drive away evil spirits and buried in the backyard at night.
Serem police station officers waited for hours before taking the body to Mbale mortuary as the family waited for the elders to cane the body before bringing it down.
Widow Florence said Dombido returned home at 9 pm on Wednesday and chased the entire family out of the house before locking himself in. She said she took her children to a neighbour’s house where they spent the night.
Florence said she returned to their house at about 6 am the next day and found her husband awake. She said he seemed disturbed.
The woman said Dombido took a rope off a cow and locked himself inside the house, when she asked him for an explanation.
She said her husband did not
listen to her pleas for him to open the door, adding their sons found his body dangling from the ceiling when they broke in.
Assistant chief Linet On’gayo said such incidents are often reported in the area.
-the-star.co.ke
