Couple commits suicide over child’s illness

Tabora. Grief has engulfed Igombe Village in Tabora District following the deaths of Mr Kanuno Tano and his wife Amina Juma.

Both have committed suicide, according to police.

Reports say the husband hanged himself and the wife swallowed a unspecified number of pills.

Tabora Regional Police Commander Emmanuel Nley told The Citizen on Monday, April 8, 2019, that the incident took place on Saturday, April 6, 2019.

“Amina was the first to kill herself aftertaking an overdose of pills including paracetamol and Cloxacillin,” he said over phone.

According to him, the woman took her own life after getting tired of her ill child who was screened with the head cancer. “A few minutes after police had collected her body, reports from the village said her husband hanged himself.”

He said Mr Tano hanged himself at Igombe forest after receiving reports of his wife’s death.

Commander Nley called on people with social problems to avoid making quick decisions, but instead look for better ways of solving them.

Tano’s neighbour Said Maulid said the couple faced hard times to look for treatment of their child in various places.

"He has been feeling so bad for illness of his child and he has been spending most of the time crying.”

According to him, the husband used to be consoled by his wife, therefore her death could have deeply frustrated him.

Tano’s father-in-law Adam Kalonga, who doubles is also the Kabila councillor, said the child’s swelling in the head increased one day before the two suicide cases.