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They said Tyanai Shoko, who was aged 56 was not the first member of their family to commit suicide.

Family spokesperson Mr Elliot Shoko who is based in Nyanga, said he was among the first people to get to the body of his brother and there was no note on the body linking his death to the national population census programme.

He said Tyanai was a deputy headmaster at Chapungu Secondary School and came from Gwai Village under Chief Chingoma.

“My late brother was at Msume High School together with other would-be enumerators on that fateful day, on Thursday. According to colleagues who were also present at Msume, my brother was behaving strangely. He then indicated to others that he was going for a shower at the nearby mission hospital. However, when I got home I found him hanging and I had to go and fetch the police,” said Mr Shoko.

He said Tyanai left two suicide notes, one addressed to his wife and the other to Mr Elliot Shoko, which indicated that he could have killed himself some years back, if it were not for the intervention of some of his relatives that included his mother and wife.

“In both suicide notes, there is no mention of the census programme. In the first note addressed to me, my brother apologised for deciding to take his life in the manner he did. He appealed to me to take care of his family and help his children grow up knowing that they had a father.

“He also asked me, together with other family members, not to consult sangomas or suspect his wife of an evil doing because there was no foul play involved. The other note was meant for his wife and again he apologised for taking his life. He also said he could have taken his life long back were it not for the wife’s intervention and at times our mother who appealed to his common sense.

“This issue of committing suicide is a family curse. My brother is not the first one in our family to commit suicide,” said Mr Elliot Shoko.

Mr Elliot Shoko had to ask a relative to read the suicide notes, written in Shona, over the phone to Chronicle as he was in Nyanga where he is based.

He said his brother also appealed to the family not to brew any traditional beer or perform any traditional rites following his death.

A son to the deceased who refused to disclose his name said the rumours that linked his father’s death to the national population census programme were spread by people in Mberengwa who had some hidden agenda.

He also said his father was suicidal and had attempted to take his life on two previous occasions.

“This had nothing to do with the census programme. Our family has a problem of suicides. My aunt also attempted suicide twice. My father’s death had nothing to do with the census thing. In fact, the census people were looking for him as others were about to start writing the entrance test in his absence,” he said.