PUPIL (14) KILLS HERSELF OVER SCHOOL FEES

MANZINI – A pupil aged 14 is said to have committed suicide after her guardians reportedly informed her that they could not fund her school fees.

The incident reportedly happened at Lanjana, Siphofaneni. Siphiwe Shongwe, who is a grandmother to Lindokuhle Shongwe, said the Form II pupil of Siphofaneni High School killed herself on Tuesday at about 6am. Leading to her demise, Shongwe said the 14-year-old had returned home from school last Monday at about 7pm. This, she said, caused her to probe where Lindokuhle had been and the deceased said she had been cleaning a hall at school as part of a punishment for noise makers. Shongwe said she did not want to believe this and pressured the minor to expand as she suspected that there was a possibility she could have been sexually violated and threatened with death. “She maintained her story but also admitted that she had walked with a boy home who found her along the way,” Shongwe said. The senior citizen said she left it at that and at around 4am, she woke up and found lights switched on in the house, which she suspected that it was when Lindokuhle mixed the poisonous substance she ingested to commit suicide.

Scream

Shongwe said she switched off the lights and returned to bed and woke up at 6am to engage in her daily chores. While feeding her chickens, Shongwe said she heard a loud scream and rushed to the house only to find her granddaughter with foam on her mouth and nose. “I started praying for her suspecting that she was having an asthma attack and was later informed by neighbours that she is dead,” she said. Shongwe said they found a note written by Lindokuhle, bidding them farewell and insisting that she had taken the decision to end her life.
The elderly woman said Lindokuhle had days before informed her mother that her wish was to die, because her parents were failing to pay school fees for her. Shongwe said what was painful to her was that when the police vehicle left with the body of her granddaughter, a non-governmental organisation (NGO) contacted her on sponsoring the minor; only for her, to inform them that her granddaughter had just committed suicide. Deputy Police Information and Communications Officer Assistant Superintendent Nosipho Mnguni confirmed the suicide.

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