Perpetua Murungweni
Akudziwe Chenjerai from Yekuai, who was a form three pupil at Victoria High School in Masvingo is said to have committed suicide by drinking poison on June 6, 2023.
The School Head Engelbert Chimbwari confirmed the incident but said he was not yet sure of the circumstances.
“It is true that one of our learners is said to have taken her life by consuming poison yesterday, and I’m not sure why she did that,” Chimbwari.
Sources close to the matter however alleged that she took her life yesterday by drinking poison over a cheating boyfriend.
“She drank poison because her boyfriend, who is also a student at Victoria High school had chosen another girlfriend over her,” said the source.
Suicide among students has raised concerns about a mental health crisis that is destroying most children in Zimbabwe were most kids are taking their lives and suicide seems to be the second leading cause of death.
In 2017 a Form 2 pupil at the Catholic-run Silveira Mission High School in Bikita committed suicide by hanging in a storeroom after allegedly being bullied by senior boys.
Also in 2018 a 16-year-old boy from Rujeko C committed suicide after a misunderstanding with his sister over perfume by drinking a pesticide.
Last year in March another 16-year-old girl from Hillside Extension Masvingo who was doing form four at a local high school took her life by consuming a cotton pesticide after an altercation with her mother.
