News / Regional
Policeman shoots self to death
06 Feb 2015 at 06:28hrs | Views
A policeman from Support Unit based in Hwange fatally shot himself with a CZ pistol on Monday.
The policeman (name withheld) who was based at the unit's Alpha Troop in Hwange, shot himself once in the head and in the mouth.
Police sources said he died on the spot and his colleagues rushed to the scene and found him in a pool of blood.
It was still unclear yesterday why he shot himself since there was no suicide note and police have since launched investigations.
His body was taken to a hospital mortuary for post mortem.
Police have been on record urging members of the force and the public to avoid solving problems by taking their own lives and engaging in any form of violence.
Last year in January, a police officer at Mazowe Police Station who was being investigated for alleged corruption, killed himself.
The officer, Sergeant Clarence Taurai Muza, was under investigation after being found with an undisclosed amount of money at a road block.
Sgt Muza committed suicide a day after he was found by a senior police officer with undeclared money at a road block as required by the Zimbabwe Republic Police.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), an estimated one million people take their lives every year and most of them are men.
A study carried out revealed that men are three to four times likely to commit suicide than their female counterparts.
Suicide is linked to various factors with social and economic challenges accounting for the highest number of self inflicted deaths.
Some of the factors attributed to the rising suicide rates are stress related with bread winning roles in an unfriendly socio-economic environment and the general expectations by society where men must deliver even when times are hard.
The policeman (name withheld) who was based at the unit's Alpha Troop in Hwange, shot himself once in the head and in the mouth.
Police sources said he died on the spot and his colleagues rushed to the scene and found him in a pool of blood.
It was still unclear yesterday why he shot himself since there was no suicide note and police have since launched investigations.
His body was taken to a hospital mortuary for post mortem.
Police have been on record urging members of the force and the public to avoid solving problems by taking their own lives and engaging in any form of violence.
Last year in January, a police officer at Mazowe Police Station who was being investigated for alleged corruption, killed himself.
The officer, Sergeant Clarence Taurai Muza, was under investigation after being found with an undisclosed amount of money at a road block.
Sgt Muza committed suicide a day after he was found by a senior police officer with undeclared money at a road block as required by the Zimbabwe Republic Police.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), an estimated one million people take their lives every year and most of them are men.
A study carried out revealed that men are three to four times likely to commit suicide than their female counterparts.
Suicide is linked to various factors with social and economic challenges accounting for the highest number of self inflicted deaths.
Some of the factors attributed to the rising suicide rates are stress related with bread winning roles in an unfriendly socio-economic environment and the general expectations by society where men must deliver even when times are hard.
Source - chronicle
