9-year-old dies trying to imitate ‘suicide scene on TV’

A 9-year-old boy died when he reportedly tried to imitate a suicide scene he had seen on TV, his family and close relatives said on Thursday.

Christian, a Class 3 student of New Age International School at Atonsu Dompoase, was found hanging from a stick in his Afful Nkwanta home on Thursday at about 2 p.m.

His grandmother, named Margaret Addai made the shocking discovery.

“He refused to join me to the market and so I left him at home. When I returned to prepare food I realized he could not be traced and so I went to the hall to get some matches to set fire, as I entered the bedroom I thought he was fast asleep but when I raised the curtain a bit further I saw him hanging”, Margaret said as she bursts into tears.

Prior to the incident, neighbours say the deceased and his friends had been imitating the act after watching the news of Miracle School’s Leticia Kyere Pinaman, who allegedly hanged herself at the school’s dining hall on Monday.

“He was seen engaging his friends imitating the act after watching UTV but they were dispersed by a female adult, only to find him hanging today”, a neighbour told dailymailgh.com.

Police at Oforikrom have conveyed the body to the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital morgue for preservation.

Detective Chief Inspector Gordon Owusu said: “For now investigations have started, we have also invited the family for questioning”.

Christian’s grandmother is concerned about the content most media houses put out on the airwaves. She has this message for them.

“The media houses should be measured in the kind of content they put out on air. We shouldn’t be showing such gory pictures on TV, that is unprofessional and we are likely to see such incidents should this continue”, she said amid tears.