A NINE-YEAR-OLD boy from Lupane died last week after
hanging himself in a mock suicide game he was playing with friends, Southern
Eye has learnt.
The incident happened on Tuesday last week in Lusulu
village when the deceased was herding cattle with other children from the
village.
Matabeleland North provincial police spokesperson Chief
Inspector Spiwe Makonese yesterday confirmed the incident.
“Yes, we received such a report. We appeal to parents to
take care of their children so that they do not get involved in activities
which endanger their lives, especially such activities which might be termed
‘don’t try this at home’.
“These activities involve imitating wrestlers, boxers, and
some fiction like activities which usually come out on televisions, as these
might lead to unnecessary loss of life,” she said.
A source close to the matter said the deceased was in the
company of other boys when they started playing a mock suicide game using a
rope; imitating how people would hang themselves.
“They were playing this game at the grazing area where they
tied a rope to a tree and one would come and place his neck around the knot and
let the rope tighten around him, imitating how people committed suicide. Other
boys did that and managed to loosen the grip. However, when it came to the
boy’s turn, he failed to remove the rope and efforts by other boys also
failed,” he said.
The source said the other boys rushed back to the village
to notify elders about the incident.
“However, when the elders arrived at the scene, he had
already died. The matter was reported to Lupane police who attended the scene
and removed his body. The body was taken to United Bulawayo Hospitals (UBH) for
post-mortem,” he said.
An official at UBH mortuary, who spoke on condition of
anonymity, yesterday confirmed that the body of the boy was conveyed to the
morgue.
“It has since been collected for burial. But, indeed, the body
came here for post-mortem which was done last week before his relatives
collected the body for burial in Lupane,” he said. Newsday
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