GRAPHIC IMAGE - Primary 5 Pupil Commits Suicide In Ondo

Awal Osisi, a Primary 5 pupil of one of the public schools in Akure, was found on Wednesday in his parents’ room, hanging from the door.

Mrs Rukayat Osisi, the boy’s stepmother, raised an alarm at about 10.00am after discovering the dangling body of the boy in the room. The woman, a petty trader, was said to have claimed that she found the body of Awal in the room having allegedly committed suicide. But the police in the state are suspecting foul play...

The woman was said to have gone to the ‘A’ Division at about 1.35 pm to report that her step-son was found dead in the room after killing himself.

Rukayat  said she discovered the body of the boy in the room after he hanged himself with a belt tied to the handle of the door. She said she had to remove  the corpse of the deceased and take it to the State specialist hospital in Akure before reporting the incident at the police station.

Findings from the community, however, showed that Awal had always been persistently victimised, oppressed and abused by his father and stepmother (since his own biological mother had divorced the father). It was gathered that the stepmother, who was yet to have an issue for the father of the deceased, together with the father had always allegedly been maltreating the boy and sending him on difficult errands.

Mr. Osisi, who works outside Akure and comes home every weekend, was said to have, during his last visit home, seized the boy’s school uniform and books, thereby preventing him from going to school.

After the incident between the boy and his father, some people said Awal had been threatening to kill himself, while he was also said to have told some of his peers that he was fed up with the treatment he was receiving from his father and stepmother, and that he was ready to injure himself or even commit suicide; that once he was dead, there would be nobody for them to punish and push around again.

The Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Ondo State command, Mr. Wole Ogodo, said full scale investigation had commenced into the matter. He however, said that upon the receipt of the complaint, men of the command visited the scene, took some photographs but discovered that the story of the woman was difficult to believe.