Own Correspondent|Just three days after he actively participate in lobola negotiations for his niece, a 55 year old Gwanda man committed suicide by hanging himself from a tree along a river which is behind his homestead under very unclear circumstances.

Matabeleland South provincial police spokesperson Chief Inspector Philisani Ndebele confirmed the incident which occurred in Bethel Village on Friday at around 5AM.

He said Lovemore Dube was found hanging after he had left a note telling his family where they would find his body.

“I can confirm that we recorded a case of suicide by hanging which occurred in Bethel Village. Lovemore Dube woke up at around 5AM and didn’t tell anyone where he was going and he went to a river which is behind his homestead where he hanged himself from a tree with a rope. His nephew woke up preparing to go to school when he saw a letter on the table written by his uncle saying they would find him at a river behind their kraal.

“The nephew showed the letter to his brother and they went to the river and found their uncle hanging from a tree. The matter was reported to the police who attended the scene. The reason for the suicide is yet to be established,’’ he said.

Just a couple of days before Dube committed suicide he had been party to lobola negotiations for his brother’s daughter who lives just across from him.

In a strange act, the family lost all of the R55 000 which was lobola they had received after four masked armed robbers pounced on them a day after the payment of the bride price.

The suspects who are still at large invaded two homesteads which family members were sleeping in.

The family lost the lobola as well as other personal money.

Deputy National police spokesperson Chief Superintendent Blessmore Chishaka confirmed the incident which occurred on Sunday.

“I can confirm that we recorded an armed robbery case which occurred in Bethel Village. On Saturday morning the complainants received R55 000 from their in-laws as bride price for their daughter. The first complainant who is the father took R47 500 to his homestead and gave his other relatives R7 500 which they shared amongst themselves,” he said.

“At around 3AM, a gang of four men who had their faces covered and were armed with a pistol, hammer and a log broke the door to the first complainant’s house and gained entry.

“They held a gun to his head and demanded cash and he surrendered a bag containing R47 500 and US$400. They also took four cell phones which belong to him and his wife.”

Chief Supt Chishaka said the gang that was travelling in an unidentified vehicle went to a nearby homestead where other family members were sleeping and ordered them to hand over their money. He said they took US$300, R3 110, $1 900 and three cell phones.

Chief Supt Chishaka said the gang punctured tyres of vehicles that were parked in the homestead and drove away in their vehicle which was parked about 200 metres away.

The family suspects that a family member masterminded the attack.

Kenneth Ndlovu (66), whose daughter got married to a Bulawayo man on Saturday said his family was still shaken by the incident which has seen them suffer a great loss.

He said they suspect that the armed robbery mastermind was a family member as the culprits appeared to be well informed about the amount and location of the money.

Family members who spoke to ZimEye.com in confidence expressed concern over Dube’s sudden unexplained suicide hinting that he may have suffered from a guilty conscience over the missing money and thought of killing himself.

According to the family members, some of the witnesses in the robbery incident had already started hinting that they saw someone who resembled Dube helping the unknown robbers around the homesteads probably directing them to where the money was kept on the fateful night.

The villagers expressed disappointment at how police refused to link the suicide to the missing money and allowed the Dube family to speedily allow for burial just a day after the suicide without carrying out investigations on the possible cause of the death.

“It’s sad that police would not believe that there was a possible link between Dube’s suicide and the missing money, ” said a relative.

Chief Insp Ndebele said most cases of suicide were recorded as a result of problems faced by people. He urged members of the public to desist from committing suicide but rather engage counsellors.

If people have problems they should talk to pastors, community leaders, family elders, professional counsellors or anyone who can assist them instead of committing suicide, he said.