A 19-year-old man from Nkulumane suburb in Bulawayo allegedly hanged himself in a bushy area near Mafela Primary School.
The man who has been identified as Mpilo Khumalo was found hanging from a tree on Tuesday morning.
Bulawayo Police Spokesperson Inspector Abednico Ncube confirmed the incident.
“The deceased was found hanging from a tree and his body was approximately 2 metres off the ground. He used a heavy-duty tank belt to hang himself,” said Inspector Ncube
The local councillor, Rodney Jele, who attended the scene said the residents were shocked by the incident.
“He stays in our area, his brother said they all retired for bed yesterday and when they woke up in the morning he had disappeared. They searched for him until he was found hanging from a tree,” said Cllr Jele.
“It is said that the deceased once suffered from a mental illness but had recovered well and had resumed his studies. It is also said that he was constantly asking to go to his rural home, but no one knew what he wanted to do there.”
Councillor Jele encouraged parents to constantly monitor their children and assist them if ever they have problems.
“As parents when we stay with children, let us constantly monitor our children if they have problems. Let us continue talking to them so that if ever, they have problems we can know how to assist them,” he said.
Inspector Ncube appealed to members of the public to seek assistance if they are going through challenges.
“We are conveying our sincere condolences to the bereaved family and we would want to appeal to other members of the community to at least take a closer look, this is a unique situation and it’s unfortunate but we are seeing a number of suicide cases going on due to the fact that people will have failed to find someone to confide in,” he said.
“A shared problem is a problem half solved, so we should open our discussions with members of the family, our friends openly so that we share the grief that we are undergoing. And those that may appear having medical challenges it is imperative that we take them for medical treatment and for doctors to affirm so that maybe we take care of them.”
