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Loveness Bepete Chronicle Reporter
A 53-YEAR-old man from Pelandaba suburb in Bulawayo allegedly hanged himself in his bedroom after he had earlier failed to take his life by drinking rat poison.Relatives found Thamsanqa Tshewa hanging from the roof on Monday at around 9AM after a neighbour suspected that he had taken poison.

The neighbour told the man’s relatives that Tshewa was acting funny and could hardly speak.

Tshewa’s brother Lovegeorge Lunga said after being alerted by the neighbour, they mobilised a search team as Tshewa had disappeared.

He said they found the door to his house locked, prompting them to conclude that he had left home.

“After receiving a disturbing message that Thamsanqa drank poison, we started to search for him outside as he had locked the doors making us believe he wasn’t inside the house,” Lunga said.

“One of our relatives peeped through the window and noticed a human shadow. He also spotted the house keys on top of the bed.”

He said the relative later confirmed that the shadow was that of Tshewa’s body hanging from the roof.

Lunga said they opened the bedroom window and used a piece of wire to retrieve the keys.

“When we opened his bedroom door, we noticed he had put a bucket on top of the bed to reach an electrical tube on a beam on the roof where he hanged himself,” Lunga said.

He said Tshewa’s wife and their young child had gone to the market when he killed himself.

Lunga said his brother’s death came as a shock to the family as no one suspected he had problems that could lead him to commit suicide.

“I believe when people have problems they should share these problems with others,” he added.

The incident came three days after an Emakhandeni Primary School teacher committed suicide by hanging herself at Ingutsheni Central Hospital after nurses there allegedly refused to allow her to go and breastfeed her baby.

Two weeks ago, a businessman allegedly shot himself over suspected economic hardships.