Police in Mbita are investigating the cause of death of a 9-year-old boy whose body was found in a school in Suba North constituency.
Brighton Masanga went missing for eight days before his body was found hanging by a sisal rope from a tree in Ramba Primary School in Mfangano North location.
The boy is a grade-three pupil at Anointed Vessels Academy which is near the school where his body was found on Sunday afternoon.
It is not clear whether the boy committed suicide or he was murdered by unknown people elsewhere and the body ferried and hanged on the tree in disguise.
His parents are said to have not quarrelled the boy or had any issues with neighbours ahead of his disappearance.
“Some children including a sibling spotted Brighton’s body when they were playing in the school compound. They raised an alarm before the matter reached security officers,” one of the residents said.
Mfangano North Location chief Bernard Oloo said the deceased's sibling positively identified him before she went and shared the information with their mother.
The body was found hanging on a tree behind a latrine in the school compound.
The administrator said the manner in which the boy died raised a lot of suspicion since he had not disagreed with the parents.
They have reported and handed over the matter to police officers in Mbita who have begun investigations.
“The boy went missing after his parents travelled for a funeral, his elder sister whom he had been left with had gone to a nearby market to buy food.
Police officer in charge of Mbita Phoebe Mwanzi said they have intensified investigations.
She called for calm as the boy’s parents have already recorded statement. Mwanzi asked residents with information about the cause of death to report to aid their investigations.
“An autopsy will be done to establish the cause of death. We’ll share postmortem results with the parents once they’re out,” Mwanzi said.
The body was moved to Kirindo mortuary in Suba North constituency.
