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| Mourners gathered at the funeral wake |
Nhlanhla Radasa (17) of Bulawayo’s Tshabalala suburb was
found dead on Friday morning after spending the previous day gambling with
friends, sources said. The friends are
alleged to be from Nkulumane near Munyoro Shopping Centre.
It is alleged that an altercation broke out after he kept
on winning and his friends refused to pay him. The argument allegedly
degenerated into a fistfight and the friends ganged up on him and assaulted him
until he fell unconscious.
“We suspect that the friends tried to stage a suicide after
realising that they had killed him. He may have been still alive but they must
have panicked and hanged him there, thinking that he was dead,” said the
source.
Bulawayo police spokesperson Inspector Abednico Ncube
yesterday said police were investigating the case.
“I can confirm that we are dealing with a case where a
17-year-old male from Tshabalala suburb in Bulawayo was found hanging from roof
trusses at a beer garden in the suburb. We are still carrying out our
investigations,” said Inspector Ncube.
“The deceased was found hanging there by workers at the
beer hall and patrons who notified residents. The beer hall is very close to
his home, therefore most of the people that gathered could recognise him and therefore
his family was notified and police were called to the scene,” he said.
The body was taken to the United Bulawayo Hospitals (UBH)
for postmortem. Police have not yet released the autopsy results.
When Chronicle visited Nhlanhla’s home his family was
hostile. They threatened to take legal action against the publication if the
matter was pursued.
A woman who identified herself as the family spokesperson
and aunt to the deceased said they could not divulge details on the matter as
it could jeopardise police investigations.
“No comment. We cannot tell you anything because it’s still
being investigated. Go and write whatever you want and we will take action
against you if you publish without our consent,” she said.
Bulawayo Provincial Education Director Mrs Olicah Kaira
said she had not yet been informed of the incident but lamented the recent
cases of suicides and general deaths of pupils in the city.
“This is very worrying and so painful. Over the past year
the cases of suicide and general deaths of school pupils has been on the high.
We need to work on measures to better help our learners,” said Mrs Kaira.
Sources said gambling is a problem at Msiteli High School
and police have been called on numerous occasions to address the challenge at the
school. The problem is mostly prevalent among boys, who bet on games for money.
A number of violent fights have broken out during the gambling sessions. Chronicle
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