A 31-year-old Bulawayo woman died due to suspected suffocation after inhaling carbon monoxide from a brazier at her family home in Mzilikazi suburb on Friday last week.
She was found dead in her bedroom by her brother who works in Inyathi and a neighbour.
Bulawayo provincial police spokesperson Inspector Abednico Ncube confirmed the incident and said the police found a note outside the woman’s bedroom door which was written, “Please be cautious, CO may still be lingering in the room.”
“Police attended a sudden death scene whereby a woman aged 31 was found dead in her family home. She had placed a charcoal furnace in her bedroom and shut herself inside,” Insp Ncube said.
“On August 7, her brother who works in Inyathi came home in the evening for the weekend. When he arrived he knocked by the gate for quite some time but there was no response. He ended up going to his neighbour’s house where he put up for the night.”
Insp Ncube noted that the following morning the brother, together with his neighbour went back to the deceased’s house.
“They knocked again but there was no response. They then got a hacksaw and cut off the chain that had been used to lock the gate. The brother then peeped through the window of her sister’s bedroom and saw her lying on the bed. They broke down the door to gain entry. They subsequently informed the police and the scene was attended to,” he said.
A source who spoke to CITE on condition of anonymity, said the woman who was identified as Polite allegedly added some toxic chemicals to a brazier she was using to warm herself.
“She added some poisonous chemicals to the charcoal then she shut herself in her bedroom. She died from inhaling the intoxicating air. Her brother discovered her body the following day lying lifelessly in her bed,” the source said.
