Suicide cases worry Mahalapye police

Bonte Seepi | Friday January 27, 2017 16:40

 

This comes after a 37-year-old man left his family heartbroken after he was found hanging from the rafters of his one-room house at Parwe ward on Tuesday near the Showground. The deceased is said to have used a wire to end his life. On the same day another man attempted to commit suicide.

Mahalapye police station commander, superintendent Isaac Mamadi confirmed the incident adding that they are worried by such cases as last year they recorded eight cases of suicide. He said the current matter was reported to them at around lunch time on Tuesday.

“According to the statements that we got, the deceased spent the day with his mother at their place of residence in Parwe without raising any complaints. And around 12pm the old woman went to the hospital. Unfortunately, when she returned from the hospital she was shocked to find his son hanging from his one-room house,” he explained.

Mamadi said the old woman was so shocked that she collapsed at the scene and woke up at the Mahalapye Hospital. He said they were told that the deceased once tried to commit suicide but was fortunately found before he could do so.

“Unfortunately nothing was done to help him and find out what his real problem was, and it is sad because at last he accomplished his mission and no one still knows what was troubling him,” he added.

He said they still have no information as to what might have led to the deceased’s decision but stated that their investigations are still ongoing.

He further said the way people take their lives is shocking as later on the same day, they received another report that another 30-year-old man also tried to hang himself at Xhosa ward.

He said fortunately the man was found before it was too late and the rope that he used was cut before he could meet his fate. Mamadi said the victim is still nursing the neck injuries he acquired during the incident.

“Suicide cases are worrisome here but we still do not have evidence of what might be the contributing factor because many people do not leave any notes behind.

We are concerned because most of the victims are youthful men. It is understandable that everybody in life has stress but that can be healed,” said the police chief. The police boss indicated that they should change their approach to the problem, as it is visible that such cases are increasing even though they have been advising people to seek counselling when they encountered problems.

He said they intend to involve a psychologist who can assist with some information on easy identification of suicidal individuals.

“We want to avoid a situation whereby one will end up taking his/her life without anyone realising that he has been troubled. So we believe being able to identify suicidal people earlier will help them to be attended to well in time,” added Mamadi.