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Sukulwenkosi Dube Plumtree Correspondent
A TEENAGE mother from Mangwe has admitted to murdering her seven-month-old son before trying to kill herself by drinking termite poison following a misunderstanding with her lover.
Thokozile Ndebele, 18, who stays at her grandparents’ homestead in Guqukani Village, Tshitshi area, first fed her baby with the termite poison before drinking it herself on Monday evening.
Her grandparents came to her rescue and rushed her to Plumtree District Hospital but her son, Conwell Mhlanga, died.
Chief Tshitshi who is Ndebele’s grandfather said the incident occurred at his cousin’s homestead around 10PM.
“I was shocked to learn of this terrible deed by my granddaughter this morning. It appears that Thoko was having problems with the father of her child.
“I learnt that before committing this terrible act my granddaughter left a suicide note pointing out that she was having problems with her lover. It’s a pity that the life of an innocent baby was lost in this incident,” said Chief Tshitshi.
Ndebele’s grandmother, Motilia Nyathi said she heard her granddaughter screaming while she was asleep in her bedroom hut and rushed to investigate.
She said she found the seven month old baby lying on the bed and Ndebele was writhing in pain on the floor.
“I saw a bottle of termite poison on the floor and I realised that my great grandson had the chemical on his clothes. I immediately knew that Thokozile had given it to him. The baby was just quiet and I couldn’t help but imagine the pain he went through before dying,” said Nyathi.
She said she alerted her husband and other neighbours who assisted to ferry her granddaughter to hospital in the middle of the night.
Ndebele who is admitted at Plumtree District Hospital where she is under police guard said her lover Kidiboni Mhlanga, had been mistreating her.
The young woman who appeared to be in severe pain as she was struggling to speak, said her lover got angry after she dumped him for being involved with several women.
Ndebele said thereafter Mhlanga started threatening to kill her.
“I was fed up of being tortured and threatened by Kidiboni and I thought killing myself would be the best option. He is always sleeping around with different women and I told him that we had to separate.
“He didn’t want our relationship to end. I took termite poison which was stored at home and drank it together with my son while I was in my bedroom hut and my grandparents were sleeping in a separate hut,” said Ndebele.
She said she recalls feeding her son with the poison and thereafter he started crying and wriggling on the bed.
Ndebele said she ignored her baby’s cries and went on to drink the termite poison herself. She said she later woke up in hospital, in great pain.
“I’m struggling to eat and I can’t even sit. I’m in great pain. I just wanted to die and I didn’t want my baby to remain without a mother because I’m also an orphan. I know how painful it feels to live without a mother. I wanted to take him with me,” said Ndebele.
Matabeleland South provincial police spokesperson, Inspector Philani Ndebele confirmed the incident.
He said investigations were still underway.
Cases of suicide have become rampant among youths. Recently an 18-year-old boy from Empandeni in Mangwe District committed suicide by drinking a mixture of dip chemical and rat poison after being scolded by his mother.
Another 18-year-old from Magwegwe Suburb in Bulawayo hanged himself at his parents’ house while a 15-year-old from the same area committed suicide by drinking a poisonous chemical after his girlfriend dumped him.
A 19-year-old Plumtree teenager last month committed suicide in a bushy area near his aunt’s house by hanging himself over unclear circumstances.
Online Reporter