A FORM Four pupil at St Bernards High School in Bulawayo’s
Old Pumula suburb was found hanging at home in Pumula North on Monday in a
suspected case of suicide.
Thembelihle Gombora (16) allegedly hanged herself from the
roof trusses of the family’s bedroom in the evening.
She lived with her grandmother as her parents work in South
Africa. Before the alleged suicide on Monday evening, Thembelihle had not slept
at home on Saturday and Sunday, only coming back in the morning on the day she
killed herself.
It appears she was reprimanded and decided to commit
suicide after sending WhatsApp messages to her friends. Acting Bulawayo police
spokesperson Inspector Abednico Ncube confirmed the incident.
“I can confirm that we are investigating a case of sudden
death where a pupil from St Bernards High School allegedly hanged herself,” he
said.
A Chronicle news crew visited the pupil’s family home and
family members said they were still in shock and devastated by the pupil’s
death.
Her aunt who declined to be named said she had not shown
any signs of depression.
She however suggested that the deceased had been a
troublesome child.
“Thembelihle was staying with her grandmother and other
children here and we always got reports of her misbehaving such that gogo
always complained about it. I was shocked to hear of her death because except
her misbehaving, she had not shown any signs of depression suggesting she could
take her life,” she said.
The aunt said the pupil did not sleep home on Saturday and
Sunday, only to come on Monday in the morning and hanged herself in the
evening.
“She was in the company of bad friends and she had strange
habits considering her age. On the day she killed herself, her grandmother had
told her to prepare some meat on the stove.
“All she did was to burn the meat and after that, she
poured a lot of water and closed the pot to hang herself in the bedroom,” she
said.
The aunt said before locking herself in the house to commit
suicide, she was overheard sending WhatsApp voice messages to her friends.
She said the deceased did not leave any note except the
WhatsApp messages, which they have not listened to yet because the phone was
taken by the police.
“She left a 21 minute voice note on WhatsApp but we haven’t
listened to it because the cell phone switched off and was taken by the police.
We were surprised to hear her talking on her phone because we did not know that
she had a cellphone,” she said.
Thembelihle’s aunt said the deceased used a belt to hang
herself and when her grandmother found her hanging, she cut it off thinking
that she was still alive.
She said Thembelihle’s body was taken to the United
Bulawayo Hospitals for postmortem.
The aunt said they are not yet sure about funeral
arrangements as they need to liase with her parents who are still in South
Africa.
“Her father called saying he will come today but the mother
is still sorting out some things,” she said.
Teachers who were at the scene said they were devastated by
the death of their pupil. Chronicle
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