A man in Mayuge district has committed suicide by poisoning after losing Shillings 800,000 in sports betting.
The suspect is 30-year-old, Isa Tibinuma, a resident of Bubalagala village in Bukatuube sub-county.
Tibinuma sold off his 20 by 45ft piece of land on December 16th, 2022 for Shillings 800,000.
He reportedly staked Shillings 500,000 at Tofer bet house in Bukatuube sub-county that Morocco would defeat Croatia on December 17th, 2022 with the hope of earning Shillings 2 million.
However, Morocco lost 2-1 to Croatia, which saw Tibinuma lose his bet. He decided to stake the remaining Shillings 300,000 that France would defeat Argentina in the FIFA 2022 world cup finals.
On December 18th, 2022 with the hope of earning Shillings 1.2 million. He lost the second bet as well since France lost 4-2 in penalty spots.
Tibinuma decided to lock up himself in his house on Sunday night when he is said to have taken suspected rat poison and called his family members to inform them of his decision to commit suicide after losing the money.
His brother, Ibrah Buyinza, says that upon receipt of the deceased’s distress call, he teamed up with well-wishers and forcefully broke into his house where they found him lying helpless on the floor.
Buyinza says that they rushed Tibinuma to a private clinic but his situation worsened prompting them to refer him to Mayuge health center IV for further management where he breathed his last on Monday morning.
Busoga East police spokesperson, Diana Nandawula says that they are waiting for a conclusive postmortem report to ascertain Tibinuma’s cause of death.
She has challenged youths to engage in productive income-generating activities rather than engaging in betting ventures, which are unsustainable.