Man who beat his grandmother faces attempted murder charges.
IN SUMMARY
Okello has a wife and a child. His violence in that family has left community leaders baffled. It is reported that he has previously beaten Anek about five times. The issues were settled at the Local Council level in Amilobo Village but this has not stopped him.
Omona says the behaviour of Okello has defeated the family and they cannot manage him.
A man who was seen beating an elderly woman in a video, is to be charged with attempted murder, police have said. The beating which happened on Easter Sunday and was caught on video was widely circulated on social media and raised concerns as people berated the man.
In the video, a bare chested elderly woman is seen pleading with a man not to beat her. But the more she pleads, the more he assaults her with a long stick. It breaks and he picks a bigger stick and continues to beat her. The woman cries and continues to beg for mercy.
“I did not say anything to anyone. Uuyyiiii….” she cries and lies on the ground. As the beating becomes unbearable, she gathers whatever strength she has and moves into her hut. He beats her till the second stick breaks as another woman helplessly watches with her hands crossed behind her back.
“Where is my home? Tell me where my village is!” The man repeatedly asks the elderly woman as he beats her.
The woman is 86-year-old Luck Anek and the man beating her is Brian Okello, her grandson. The other woman looking on helplessly is Okello’s wife.
Anek was later taken to Gulu Regional Referral Hospital while Okello was arrested.
A press statement, released by Patrick Jimmy Okema, the PRO Aswa Region Police states that Okello was arrested on April 14th at around 2am while hiding in a deserted grass thatch house 200 metres away from his actual house and a case file of torture and attempted murder has been registered under SD 11/13/04/2020 at Ongako Police station.
On WhatsApp groups and Facebook, some of the comments were inciting and expressed the anger and concern the users have towards domestic violence.
“It was so distasteful to watch. Adrenaline raising. It left me angry with everyone including the videographer though his or her inaction is ameliorated by this overwhelming evidence. Makes you want to be an authority and get planted at the scene at that right moment, with the means to liquidate him if need be. Irrespective of what she could have done, I would find it very difficult to raise a voice let alone a finger at that frail, beseeching, defenseless old woman,” wrote a member of a journalist WhatsApp group.
“Police should lock up this guy immediately. This kind of abuse is not acceptable in any society. Imagine abuse of the elderly!” another commented.
According to 65-year-old John Omona, one of Anek’s sons, this is not the first time Okello is displaying such violence. Anek, a widow, is a mother of two children; her four other children died. One of those was the father to 35-year-old Okello.
Okello has a wife and a child. His violence in that family has left community leaders baffled. It is reported that he has previously beaten Anek about five times. The issues were settled at the Local Council level in Amilobo Village but this has not stopped him.
Omona says the behaviour of Okello has defeated the family and they cannot manage him.
“This is their home where he was born. His mother died then later the father also died. His other brother, Opiyo, and he, were left under the care of their grandmother. Opiyo is a responsible person but this one, we do not know what to do with him. He is an alcoholic and takes marijuana as well. For now, my mother has been discharged from Gulu Regional Referral Hospital but is still weak. She is staying at Amilobo with my other sister,” Omona says in a resigned low tone.
Mr. Michael Opira, the LCI of Amilobo village admits that they have tried resolving the problem of Okello beating his grandmother, in vain.
“This is not the first time he beat his grandmother. His grandmother is even partially blind. She could not even tell which direction the beating was coming from. When he learns that she has some money, he beats her if she refuses to give him the money. He keeps disturbing the grandmother when he is drunk,” he says.
Peter Mugabi, the Omoro district police commander told Daily Monitor that Okello is in their custody.
“We are charging him with attempted murder. When you look at that video critically and by virtue of her being about 80 years, and this young man is just in his 30s, when you look at the stick he was using, even pushing it into the eyes, if we say assault then we will not have helped this old lady,” he says>chaosafrica
