By: Alieu Jallow
A 36-year-old man was discovered dead in his house in Sinchu Baliya, in the West Coast Region, after a year of his family believing he was away teaching in the Upper River Region.
Abubacarr Bah was a teacher who had been posted to the Upper River Region to teach Arabic. According to his cousin, he had bid farewell to his parents at night, informing them that he would leave for his posting early the next morning.
He also left a message stating that he had some Quranic books and had bought chemicals to keep mice from tampering with them. Furthermore, he sealed his house with corrugated metal and bags as a precautionary measure to prevent rats or mice from entering.
His family assumed that he had already left town since he had said his goodbyes the night before. They tried to call him, but he was unreachable for several days.
However, after three days, there was a strong smell coming from his house. So, they thought it was just the smell of dead rats and mice due to the chemicals he had used in the house. They did not pay much attention to the smell because the barriers or sealing around his house prevented the strong odour from escaping.
According to an informed source, two days ago, the deceased’s sister who is married in Senegal visited her parents and asked if they had heard from her brother. The parents’ response was not satisfactory to the sister. She further asked if they had checked his house, but her parents’ response was still not convincing. Out of curiosity, the sister suggested breaking into his house to check. She broke the window and saw something that scared her. She called her parents to come and see what she had witnessed.
The man, described as pious, humble, and hardworking, had a cordial relationship with his neighbours. He worked as an Arabic teacher.
