admin
Yoliswa Dube
WHEN Kranos Nyangari, 21, a third-year Electrical Engineering student at the University of Zimbabwe hanged himself at his home in Bulawayo’s North End suburb, his father, Wilbert attributed his son’s death to supernatural evil forces emanating from hip-hop.Kranos recorded a video before killing himself. In the video, he talks about how his estate should be distributed, demanding that his body be cremated, the ashes scattered around the yard and watered. He sent messages to his friends announcing his death.
Not long before Kranos took his life, a Midlands State University student had allegedly committed suicide by downing a poisonous substance in front of the institution’s administration block while authorities looked on.
Learnmore Nyamutsaka, 26, was protesting against the institution’s six-month delay in releasing his money.
He allegedly downed poison at the institution’s administration block after they had refused to give him money amounting to $2,500.
A witness alleged that on the fateful day Nyamutsaka went to MSU to ask about an outstanding payment for chickens he had sold to the institution.
He was told that the money was not available.
Nyamutsaka was on work related learning and was doing community engagement programmes in Buhera, Vhiriri area at one of the lecturers’ home.
He had applied for a loan from Kingdom Bank and started a chicken project. Nyamutsaka would sell the chickens to MSU. It is alleged that he sold his chickens to MSU but did not receive full payment. He was forced to defer a semester because he could not pay his fees.
When the institution failed to give him the money, Nyamutsaka decided to commit suicide right in front of the administration block in protest. He was rushed to Gweru Provincial Hospital where he died on admission.
Soon after Kranos took his life, Tapfuma Sezi, 25, a fifth-year Chemical Engineering student at the National University of Science and Technology allegedly committed suicide by drinking a poisonous substance suspected to be cyanide after tests showed that he had a brain tumour.
Sezi is reported to have taken cyanide at his lodgings in Selbourne Park suburb in Bulawayo.
A close friend said Sezi had earlier in the day asked for cyanide from his lecturers under the pretext of conducting a research.
The lecturers are said to have refused but it is suspected Sezi got hold of the chemical anyway.
After complaining of stomach pains, he later collapsed and died on admission at United Bulawayo Hospitals.
What could be causing young people with so much promise ahead of them to take their lives?
“Our children are under so much pressure once they reach tertiary institutions and the economic situation in the country at the moment doesn’t make life any easier,” said Thandiwe Conjwayo, mother of a fourth-year university student.
She said it was hard for many students to cope with school work as well as cater for their own welfare.
“You send your child to school far from home. They’ve to do assignments, attend lectures and write tests. Because on-campus accommodation is not always available or affordable, they’ve to find a place to rent and share with other people.
“When they get to their lodgings, they have to cook, they have rentals to pay, electricity and water are not always available, sometimes they need transport fare, they need to get assignments printed, they need a laptop to type these assignments and all these things cost money.
“You find that these students don’t have enough money to see them through. The pressure is just too much and there is really nobody to help them cope,” said Conjwayo.
She feels parents were partly to blame for their children’s failure to cope through university resulting in suicide in some instances.
“We send our children to school and expect them to excel when we fail to provide everything they need. Tuition is not paid in its entirety and they fail to register for the semester yet we still expect them to attend classes. Your child calls to say they no longer have money and instead of making a plan as a parent, you tell them they’re not the only child you have to take care of and expect them to survive without your help.
“Some of these students have a very low threshold for pain. They really can’t withstand the pressure,” said Conjwayo.
Parents have to make a commitment, Conjwayo said, to ensure that pressure is lessened on their children as they go through university.
While some may argue female students turn to “sugar daddies” to ease their financial burdens, others believe not many male students have such options.
Intergenerational sex, which has also been said to be one of the propellers of HIV prevalence due to failure to negotiate for safer sex in such relationships, is a contentious issue among university students.
Older, financially stable men, pounce on vulnerable young university students and offer financial solutions they can’t refuse.
“I think it’s nothing academic. Students commit suicide as a result of social problems emanating from home,” said Nqobile Sibanda, a Civil Engineering student from Nust.
Financial problems, Sibanda said, were the biggest reason many students committed suicide.
“Some discover there isn’t tuition fees when they’re about to sit for their examinations. They’re wallowing in poverty and the only way they thought could free them from this poverty was through school and when they can’t complete their studies that hope is taken away.
“They feel they’ve nothing to live for. They would rather die than continue living in poverty,” said Sibanda.
He emphasised that non-academic problems pushed many over the edge.
“Of course we can’t deny influence from the media. The cultures that we watch on television affect who we are and most of us end up living imaginary lives. This somehow affects our lives and influences the decisions we make,” said Sibanda.
Dr Ethan Mapuranga, a psychiatrist, said people at risk of committing suicide were those suffering from mood disorders, those with a history of poor mental health and those who have been through stressful life events.
“The same risk factors play a similar role in suicide and serious suicide attempts. Suicide and suicide attempts are discriminated by mood disorder and gender differences. Methods of suicide or suicide attempts may either be highly lethal or less lethal,” said Dr Mapuranga.
“Highly lethal methods include hanging, firearms or jumping and less lethal methods include self-poisoning or cutting. The presence or absence of parental separation or divorce, poor parental relationships and childhood sexual abuse may push a young person to commit suicide.”
Dr Mapuranga said mood disorders which may be classified as major depression or bipolar disorders, substance use disorders emanating from alcohol, cannabis, or other psychoactive substance abuse or dependence, anxiety disorders such as panic disorder, agoraphobia, obsessive-compulsive disorder, simple phobia, social phobia and antisocial disorder were all contributory factors to suicide.
He said psychotic conditions which sometimes made people commit suicide could be treated clinically although most could never fully recover or be cured.
Online Reporter