A 14-year-old final year student of Miracle Educational Academy Junior High School (JHS) at Sunyani in the Bono Region, Leticia Kyere Pinaman, has allegedly committed suicide.
The deceased was found hanging Monday evening at the school’s dining hall.
She was found by her colleagues at around 6:30pm. It is not yet clear what might have accounted for the incident.
The Housemistress of the school, Gifty Acheampong confirming the incident said “I was in the kitchen when I heard the students shouting. I rushed there and saw her hanging. So I quickly rushed to the church auditorium to call the proprietor and the proprietress.”
Confirming the incident, the Sunyani Division Police Crime Officer, DSP Kingsley Wiredu, said his outfit was gathering facts and would brief the media at the appropriate time.
The body of the student has been deposited at the Bono Regional Hospital Morgue.
Graphic Online’s reporters in Sunyani Emmanuel Adu-Gyamerah and Biiya Mukusah Ali reports that the school is located at Baakoniaba, a suburb of Sunyani.
The student reportedly left the bible studies session at the school’s church auditorium to commit the crime.
She is said to be one of the brilliant students in her class.
Suicide note
The housemistress of the school, Madam Gifty Acheampong, told journalists that the deceased left a note on a table which stated: “I am not happy, this world is full of sorrow and pain, I can’t live anymore and I want to die”.
She said the deceased expressed her sorrow to her parents, teachers and friends for her departure, explaining that the police had taken the note to compare with her handwriting.
Madam Acheampong explained that the bible studies was part of the school’s curriculum, during which students converged at the church auditorium every Monday evening to study the bible with the General Overseer of the Deeper Life Bible Church (DLBC), Mr Williams F Kumuyi, from Nigeria via satellite.
She said while the bible studies was ongoing she went to the kitchen to monitor the preparation of supper to ensure that the students were served just after the bible studies.
Madam Acheampong explained that while she was in the kitchen the students moved toward to the dining hall to take their supper and as soon as they entered the hall, they started shouting, screaming and rushing out .
She said they were shouting and calling her to come and witness what Pinaman had done to herself, saying, “when I rushed to the dinning hall, I couldn’t believe what I saw”.
Madam Acheampong said the school could not pick any information prior to the unfortunate act, because she did not portray anything that showed she was in a bad condition.
She said the deceased performed her responsibilities normally and took part in all the school’s activities, including class activities, explaining that her act was unexpected.
Madam Acheampong said the deceased was one of the brilliant students, calm and jovial in class and at the hostel, where she always cracked jokes with her colleagues.
She explained that none of the authorities of the school knew how and where she got the rope from, adding that the family, especially the parents of the deceased found it difficult to accept that their daughter had committed suicide.
Close friend
A classmate of the deceased, who is also her closest friend told journalists that though she noticed sudden changes in the deceased’s attitude, she never suspected that it would get to a level where she would take her own life.
She said on that faithful day, the deceased was so quite and when she asked whether there was any problem, the deceased said there was no problem and explained that she was a person who did not want to share her emotional feelings with her.
She said the deceased refused to take her breakfast and the food she bought for her, but stayed in class quietly, explaining that some of the teachers noticed her quietness and when they enquired, she refused to speak to it.
She said she went straight to the dormitory and came back for the Mathematics extra classes before the evening bible studies during which the incident happened.
When Graphic Online contacted the Sunyani Division Crime Officer, DSP Kingsley Wiredu, he confirmed the incident and explained that the police was conducting an investigation into the matter and would get back to the public when the investigation was concluded.
The body of the deceased has been deposited at the Sunyani Municipal Hospital Morgue, pending autopsy.
Source: graphic.com.gh