FIVE FAMILY MEMBERS COMMIT SUICIDE

MBABANE – In what still remains a mysterious occurrence, five family members are said to have died on separate occasions after committing suicide by hanging themselves with a rope.

The suicides are said to occur after every three years with the head of the family, a 58-year-old former sugarcane cutter identified as Ephraim Majikajika Tsabedze, being the latest casualty after he hung himself in his house this week. The family resides at Mambane, a densely populated area under Matsanjeni North Inkhundla in the Lubombo region, which shares boundaries with Mozambique.

Shocking

One of the family members, Percy Tsabedze, told Eswatini News that the manner in which the deceased have all died was shocking and a mystery.
Percy said at around 6pm their father came back from inspecting the herd of cattle that belongs to the family and then asked that he be given water to bath. He said his father then demanded that he be given food because he wanted to retire to bed early that night. “After some few hours we checked on him in his room and discovered that he was already dead and was hanging from the rafters of the house,” he said.

Alarm

Meanwhile, Percy said they did not touch his body and immediately raised an alarm to the community and at the same time called the Royal Eswatini Police Service (REPS). “The police blatantly told us that they no longer attend to incidences at night and that they would come in the morning. We had to spend the whole night watching our father hanging from the roof. “The police came in the morning and took pictures and thereafter took the body with them to Siteki for a post-mortem,” he said. Deputy Police Information and Communication, Inspector Nosipho Mnguni, confirmed the incident. Percy told this publication that four of his siblings also committed suicide through hanging themselves. He said these were Sikhumbuzo, Kwanele, Nathi, Mfanufikile and Mancoba.

Hanged

“Two of my brothers, Kwanele and Nathi, hanged themselves in the past three years in one day while the other two hanged themselves four years ago in the same manner, revealed Tsabedze who said that after the death of his father, he was now left with only three siblings. He further disclosed that two of the remaining siblings have also tried to commit suicide in the past weeks but were prevented from doing so after members of the community followed them to the nearby stream where they were planning to hang themselves.

“We thank God for the community members who suspected my two younger siblings and followed them and thwarted their plan to end their lives and further took the ropes they had in their bags. “I am horrified with this act as all my family members seem to be so fond of ending their lives with a rope. I would like to plead with anyone who might help us with counselling to do so,” Percy said.

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