Second Swakop suicide ‘a very tragic accident’

IN an attempt to reportedly demonstrate to her 11-year-old brother how an acquaintance of hers committed suicide only three days before, a Grade 8 pupil from Namib High School in Swakopmund, Manuela de Waal (13), ‘accidentally’ hanged herself with fatal consequences.

De Waal on Monday became the second ‘suicide’ at the town in three days. On Friday, Evensulh ‘Mandy’ van Wyk (14), a grade-9 pupil of the same school, committed suicide by hanging herself, only hours after she was implicated in an incident in which five girls were caught in possession of alcohol on the school premises.A spokesperson for the Erongo Police, Detective Warrant Officer Julia Nujoma, said Manuela’s death was considered a ‘very tragic accident’, and therefore there was no connection between the two tragedies, except for the fact that Manuela’s older sister was apparently a friend of Mandy’s.She said that Manuela and her 11-year-old brother were at home at around 15h00 when the incident took place. The schoolgirl allegedly wanted to show her little brother how Mandy had taken her own life by hanging.She took a kitchen cloth and went to the bathroom, where she allegedly tied the cloth to the shower outlet and the other end around her neck. Her foot then apparently slipped on the shower floor. Her brother allegedly ran out of the house calling for help. Neighbours rushed her to the Cottage Medi-Clinic hospital, but she was announced dead on arrival.Yesterday morning, a small table in the foyer of the school was turned into a shrine in memory of De Waal and Van Wyk.Reporters were waiting at principal Ernst Olivier’s office for answers about last week’s alcohol incident and comments about the deaths.’We are not allowed to speak to the media until the directorate and inspectorate of regional education see the report,’ Olivier said. ‘Wait until 10h00, and then you should get some answers.’By 16h00, however, neither the Inspector, Clementine Garises, nor the Director, Johnny Awaseb, was available for comment. The director’s personal assistant promised a ‘faxed report’ to the media ‘later’.