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He died fighting for his rights.


A young juvenile, Innocent, was yesterday reportedly killed by fellow inmates on the instructions of the Home Matron in a mid Western Ugandan town of Masindi, about 200km west of Kampala. It is reported that the boy was very rebellious when it came to doing work for the authorities holding them. In this particular case, they had gone to work in the field when this young juvenile just refused to work, saying he would rather dig for the Juvenile Remand Home, not for individuals who pay money into the pockets of their Matron.

Image by sarahemcc via Flickr

 

In the bid to punish him, the Matron ordered fellow inmates to teach him some manners by beating sense into him. The inmates descended on the boy and in the ensuing violence, he was beaten into a coma, only to die later in hospital.

The Matron was arrested and is currently helping the police with investigations into the matter. It has however come to light that this young juvenile had protested the habit of  inmates being taken to work on people’s field for money which instead is paid directly into the pockets of the managers of the home. He was particular very outspoken about the poor living conditions of the home which he noted was a direct result of the exploitative nature of the authorities who make them labor to raise a lot of money but all the money is eaten up by the matron and her bosses.

It was his strong opposition to such exploitation by the police arm running the home that made him a target for elimination. Ugandans are looking on with keen interest to see if those involved in ending such a young life will be brought to book.