A 49-year-old driver died shortly after he attempted suicide in Eastern Equatoria State capital of Torit on Saturday.
According to Torit police spokesperson Major Justine Kleopus Takuru, the late identified as Musa Wani Lofogur hanged himself but policemen arrived at the scene, rescued him, and he later died while in custody.
“On the 5th December, a complaint came that a well-known driver called Musa Wani Lofogur took a mosquito net, tied on his neck in his house, and wanted to kill himself. But his son cried and reported to the CID. They went quickly and broke the door and took him out, tied and brought him into custody. He was very drunk," Kleopus told Radio Tamazuj. "When he was brought the soldiers undressed him completely for fear he will complete the suicide mission but it happened around 1:30 pm and information came from the guard there that his situation is worsening. So the cell was opened and he was in a bad condition. He was put in a car on the way to the hospital but he died on the way."
According to the police spokesperson, a medical report showed that he had taken too much alcohol coupled with internal bleeding from his suicide attempt led to his death.
Kleopus urged the public to avoid making rash decisions despite whatever circumstance they are facing.
So far, Radio Tamazuj has recorded about five suicide cases in Torit town.
Atiko Alice, the project liaison officer for Humanity and Inclusion, a psychosocial support organization in Torit says suicide can be caused by a variety of reasons including gender-based violence, drug abuse, chronic diseases, economic hardship, and the fear of responsibility.
She urged the community to be vigilant and help those hurting, as she called for massive awareness of suicide prevention in the wake of rising cases.
“Sometimes situations can force one to feel depressed and hopeless before they think of committing suicide. There are always signs like they may want to be isolated from others. So the community leaders trained on identifying such types of cases can be able to at least at the shortest time to get in touch with such people to provide psychosocial support to prevent suicide,” Alice said.
She further advised that when feeling depressed, one should seek help from family, friends, or religious leaders and most importantly to visit the mental health unit at Torit Hospital for help.