A National University of Science and Technology (Nust)
second year Actuarial Science student was found hanging at home in Nketa suburb
on Friday in a suspected case of suicide.
Misheck Siwela (21) allegedly hanged himself from the roof
trusses of the family’s dining room. Siwela came from Harare to stay with his
father’s young brother after securing a place at Nust.
The Chronicle caught up with family members who said they
were still in shock and devastated by the death of their son.
Siwela’s aunt, Ms Locardia Vutete said they were shocked by
the student’s death as he had not shown any signs of depression.
“Misheck’s father is my husband’s brother and we have been
staying with him since he got a place at Nust. I was shocked to hear of his
death because when l left for South Africa on Monday he did not show any signs
of depression,” she said.
Ms Vutete said the family had been looking up to him as he
had a promising future.
“His mother died when he was in Grade Four and his father
never married another woman as he chose to take care of his two children. On
many occasions l told him never to forget his father but it is painful that he
chose to repay his father this way,” she said.
Ms Vutete said before locking himself in the house to
commit suicide, Siwela took his clothes out for washing and destroyed his
cellphone.
She said Siwela did not leave any note except a piece of
paper with his friend’s mobile number in his pocket.
“When we dialed the number, the friend came immediately. We
hear the friend is one of the colleagues he participated with in school
politics as they contested posts in the student representative council (SRC).
Maybe the friend has an idea of what could have led him to commit suicicide”
she said.
Ms Vutete said Siwela’s body was taken to the United
Bulawayo Hospitals for post-mortem. She said they are not yet sure about burial
arrangements as they need to organise with the family.
“His father is in Harare and the family comes from
Mhondoro. We are not yet sure because we hear their funeral policy does not
cover people who commit suicide,” she said.
Siwela’s aunt said Nust officials visited the family and
assisted with some money for funeral expenses.
Nust communications and marketing officer Mrs Lindiwe Nyoni
said the institution was saddened by the student’s death. “We are deeply
saddened as we lost one of our students at a time the students are preparing
for end of semester examinations. There is no doubt he had a bright future
given that he was pursuing one of the high rated degrees at our institution. We
are together with his family during this difficult period,” she said.
Last year in September, a second-year Finance student was
found hanging in his hostel at the institution.
In November during
the same year, a first year Statistics student Blessing Mangena was crushed by
a train in an alleged suicide. Chronicle
0 comments:
Post a Comment