FATHER KILLS TWO CHILDREN, HIMSELF

MANZINI – A father is alleged to have killed his two children and himself by ingesting a poisonous substance on Saturday.

The father, who was said to have been a public transport worker, reportedly contacted the mother of his children on Saturday, informing her that he was visiting them at Lutfotja, under Mkhiweni Constituency. It has been gathered from sources that while informing her that he was paying them a visit, *Samuel requested that the trio (the two minors and their mother) walk towards the bus stop so that they could meet him halfway. Sources said the mother and the two minors, aged seven and five, adhered to his request and walked from Lutfotja towards Luve. Along the way, it was gathered that the children rushed towards their father who gave them the poisonous substance.

The sources claimed that after the children had ingested the poison, Samuel also did the same. Within minutes, the sources claimed that the minors started to writhe in pain as froth came out of their mouths. The same was said to have befallen their father. Chief Police Information and Communications Officer Superintendent Phindile Vilakati confirmed the incident. She said the matter was reported to the police and three people died.

Psychologist

In light of this, Clinical Psychologist Nomfundo Simelane said this was sad and depicted the depth of challenges with mental health. Simelane said there was a psychological diagnosis for such acts and they could never be predicted. She said mental health was essential and the families of the affected should undergo psychological assessment to assess the impact of what they had gone through. Simelane said mental health should be treated as any other illness in hospitals as males were less open about their challenges. Meanwhile, the killing of children by their fathers is seemingly on the rise as this publication recently reported that two fathers killed their babies by forcing them to ingest a poisonous substance following misunderstandings with the mothers of their children.

At Buhlebuyeza under Madlangampisi Constituency, Musa Mathole Nxumalo, 40, killed his son aged two, by forcing him to ingest poison. Nxumalo also committed suicide by ingesting the same poisonous substance. This incident left his family devastated. The publication reported that after meeting the boy, Thembi supposedly offered him a poisonous substance to drink. The minor subsequently died. Recently, the DPM said government was concerned about the rate of suicides that were currently taking place in the country. He said over the past three months, a total of 46 people had taken their own lives, according to the police; an average of 15 a month.

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