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Man hangs self after unpleasant church prophecy

by Staff reporter
30 Aug 2017 at 06:43hrs | Views
A MAN from Tsholotsho allegedly committed suicide after receiving an "unpleasant prophecy" at church.

The incident happened on Sunday at around 5AM.

Smart Ncube (63) of Magama Area under Chief Magama received a prophecy and before the church service ended, he walked out, leaving his family behind and proceeded to a nearby bush where he allegedly hanged himself.

Fellow congregants told The Chronicle that they suspected that he had been told unpleasant news.

Smart and his family had attended an all night prayer session at an unidentified Pentecostal church which conducted its services at Mr Dumisani Ncube's homestead.

"He had had a one-on-one with his church leader Mr Dumisani Ncube and about an hour later, he just walked out of church without sharing with anyone what had bothered him. As he walked towards his home, he met his neighbour Mr Jethro Nyoni (40) who asked him why he was carrying a rope in the early hours of the morning," said a congregant who preferred anonymity.

"Smart disclosed to Mr Nyoni that he wanted to kill himself as something was bothering him. He didn't mention the reason but said some issue was worrying him and he had resorted to ending his life.

"Smart held a rope in his hands and explained that he had made a decision and no one could stop him," said the congregant.

He said Mr Nyoni's efforts to restrain Smart from proceeding with his suicide threat were fruitless.

"Mr Nyoni tried to grab the rope from Smart but he refused to let go and instead drew an Okapi knife and threatened to stab Mr Nyoni if continued to wrestle him.

"Fearing for his life, Mr Nyoni let go of the rope and ran to Mr Dumisani Ncube's home where the church session was being held. He informed the whole church, including Smart's family, of his intentions. They all rushed back to where Nyoni had met Ncube but they found him already dead," said the congregant.

A police source said this was the second suicide recorded in Tsholotsho on that day. "In another incident that occurred on Sunday in Sipepa, a 58-year-old man was also found hanging. The reasons for him ending his life could not be immediately established," he said.

Matabeleland North police spokesperson Inspector Siphiwe Makonese could not be reached for comment.



Source - chronicle