Two hang on mango trees

Two men, for reasons yet unknown, have committed suicide by hanging at two separate locations.

Incidentally, they both chose mango trees to end it all.

The two separate incidents happened at Damango in the Northern Region and Ho in the Volta Region.

In Damango, the lifeless body of a man believed to be in his 40s was last Saturday morning found hanging on a mango tree around the West Gonja District Police Headquarters.

The deceased, according to preliminary police investigations, committed suicide by hanging but left no suicide note stating the reasons for his action.

The latest incident, according to residents, followed a foiled attempt by the deceased to kill himself, earlier, after digging his own grave in the middle of his room.

He was suspected to have gone to the scene of the hanging late the previous night for fear that his diabolic agenda could be scuttled the second time.

Police recovered a lamp under the mango tree on which he committed the act, but stated that they suspected no foul play over the incident.

Residents who were horrified by the news rushed to the scene and identified the body as that of one Abu, a Muslim leader in the area.

The body of the deceased had since been deposited at the Tamale Teaching Hospital Morgue pending a coroner’s inquest to determine the actual cause of death.

According to his neighbours, the deceased on Friday April 26, 2013, attempted committing suicide by locking himself in his room and trying to set the room ablaze.

The neighbours’ timely intervention however saved the situation, as they broke into his room and rescued him. They also uncovered that he had secretly dug his own grave in the middle of the room.

A neighbour who spoke on grounds of anonymity said the deceased used to be the bread winner of the family until he travelled to Nigeria for close to a decade.

Upon his return, he seemed to have changed, behaving in an odd manner until Saturday April 27, 2013 when he decided to end it all by committing suicide.

Police personnel from the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), who untied the body of the deceased, promised to get to the bottom of the matter.

Ho Incident

A young man believed to be in his early 30s is suspected to have hanged himself on a mango tree in a bush at Agotome, near the Ho leprosarium in the Ho Municipality.

The man, who is yet to be identified, committed suicide last Monday April 22, 2013 for reasons yet to be ascertained.

Some residents who spoke to DAILY GUIDE noted that “we have not seen the man before.”

When the police were contacted, the Municipal Crime Officer who is acting as the Municipal Commander, Superintendent Kingsley Amankwah confirmed the incident to DAILY GUIDE.

He noted that on that fateful day, a taxi driver who had gone into the bush to ease himself saw the slippers of the deceased under a mango tree and thought the owner was on top of the tree.

He raised his head only to find the young man hanging up, with his tongue stuck out.

He quickly alerted the assembly man for the area, a certain Anthony, who also alerted the Police.

Supt Amankwah added that attempts by the investigator, Sgt Mike Kweitsu, to reach the deceased’s relatives had proved futile since community and opinion members living in the vicinity of the crime claimed they did not know him.

He added that a phone retrieved from the deceased’s pocket had been of little help.

That notwithstanding, the Police were working hard to identify the deceased and find out the reason behind the act since there were no signs of a struggle.

The body has been deposited at the Municipal Morgue pending identification and autopsy.