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Man hacks wife with an axe, kills self after thinking she is dead

by Staff reporter
23 Feb 2022 at 16:17hrs | Views
A Filabusi man, who was accusing his wife of cheating, killed himself after thinking that he had hacked her to death with an axe.

Innocent Chandakawona of Bekezela in Filabusi, allegedly struck his wife Delight Honera with an axe all over the body until she lost consciousness.

After he had realised that his wife was no longer moving, Chandakawona hanged himself on the roof truss of their house.

When his wife regained consciousness, she found Chandakawona hanging on the roof truss of their bedroom and immediately started screaming for help.

On arriving at the scene, neighbours noticed that she was injured all over the body and reported the incident to the police.

Matabeleland South police spokesperson Inspector Loveness Mangena confirmed the incident.

"I can confirm that Innocent Chandakawona of Bekezela in Filabusi, allegedly struck his wife Delight Honera with an axe all over the body until she lost consciousness. After he had realised that his wife was no longer moving, Chandakawona hanged himself on the roof trusses of their house," said Insp Mangena.

She urged members of the public to seek assistance from the police or community leaders to address disputes so that lives are not lost unnecessarily.

Meanwhile, Zimbabwe has the 13th highest suicide rate in the world amid reports that cases have been on the rise, making suicide the 14th leading cause of death in the country.

According to a mental wellness organisation- Create Zim, in the last five years more men have resorted to suicide compared to women.

Defined as the act of intentionally causing one's own death by ingesting pesticide, hanging or using firearms; suicide is a result of mental disorders including depression, psychosis and substance use disorder.

Some of the causes include feelings of hopelessness for better outcomes.

Medical experts say serious depression can be effectively controlled with modern drugs and other medical techniques, but it is necessary that those who are drifting into suicidal depression are identified and referred to competent medical practitioners or psychiatry specialists as early as possible.

"CreateZim endeavours to provide the rare opportunity to have necessary conversations, while simultaneously creating safe spaces both through location-based sessions run by the enterprise as well as an interactive online platform. Based on our suicide rate, Zimbabwe is ranked the 13th in the world and the scourge is the 14th leading cause of death in Zimbabwe," read a statement from the organisation.



Source - The Chronicle