Pupil head-butts mum, hangs self

A FORM four pupil from Mbuyazwe Secondary School on the outskirts of Bulawayo allegedly committed suicide after fighting with his mother who had chided him for bullying his younger brother.

Brandon Dube (16) allegedly hanged himself from a tree with a piece of wire near his school, just a few metres from his home.

A passerby discovered his body yesterday at about 6:15AM and alerted other villagers who informed his parents and police.

A family member Mr Sylvester Lungu said Brandon disappeared on Sunday night after assaulting his mother.

"He was last seen around 8PM after fighting with his mother who had scolded him for bullying his younger brother. He head-butted his mother before leaving home. His mother rushed to call neighbourhood watch committee members to reason with him. When they arrived he had already vanished," said Mr Lungu.

He said it was not his first time to attack his mother with church members having been engaged during previous incidents. Mr Lungu said Brandon lived with both his parents although his father often arrives home late.

He said Brandon's actions had shocked the whole village saying even rage does not justify what he did.

"We still don't understand what drove him to do such a thing. It's not something that we expected from him. It's sad. His actions have devastated everyone here. We don't even suspect he was abusing any drugs," said Mr Lungu.

Scores of villagers converged at the suicide scene.

Bulawayo acting Provincial Education Director Mrs Olicah Kaira, who was also at the scene, said it was sad that a child had been lost through suicide.

"I rushed to the school this morning after being told about this tragic incident. We are worried about losing children in such a painful manner as the education system," said Mrs Kaira.

"I was talking to the school head and he was telling me that Brandon was one of the most intelligent boys at the school. He had registered to write his Ordinary Level examinations in November."

She encouraged parents to listen to what their children say as it may give pointers to their actions.

"I'm reliably informed that he made threats to his mother that he would commit suicide. These are statements that parents should not take lightly. Once you hear a child saying such statements engage the school, we have trained guidance and counselling teams who can talk to the child and understand his or her problems. These counselling sessions have averted many tragedies," Mrs Kaira said.

She said the way children behave has changed drastically over the years.

Mrs Kaira urged parents to adjust the way they raise their children.

"I'm not saying that parents should allow children to be delinquent but the way we were raised differs from how these children are. So parents and guardians are encouraged to monitor their children's behaviour and deal with their cases differently," she said.