Somalia: Father burns his four children to death after locking them inside home – police

HARGEISA, Nov 10  – A man in Somaliland, a breakaway region in northern Somalia, burned his four children to death on Sunday after locking them inside their home and setting it on fire in the October neighborhood of Hargeisa, police said.

The victims — three boys and a girl, all under the age of 10 — were trapped inside the small house as flames spread rapidly. Firefighters said the blaze had engulfed the entire structure before they arrived. A fifth child, an infant who was with her mother at the time, survived.

The father, identified by neighbors only as Hamse, allegedly poured fuel inside the home before igniting it. “We saw the house burning,” one witness told local media outlet MMTV. “When we shouted at him to save the children, he said, ‘Leave us alone,’ and walked away.”

Police said the suspect was arrested by Criminal Investigation Department (CID) officers while attempting to flee the scene. Investigators said the man had been involved in a custody dispute with his wife, and the couple had appeared in court earlier the same day.

“This is one of the most disturbing incidents we’ve seen in recent years,” said Brigadier General Ahmed Mohamed Hassan, commander of the Somaliland Fire and Rescue Service. He expressed condolences to the bereaved family and called for public restraint as investigations continue.

The case has sparked shock and anger in Hargeisa, where domestic disputes rarely turn deadly. Former Somaliland President Muse Bihi Abdi described the killings as “a tragedy that has shaken the conscience of the nation.”

Police said the man remains in custody as authorities investigate the motive behind the killing.

GAROWE ONLINE