In this horrific case in Ext 7, the father of the children decided to end his life and that of his three children – one of whom is an eight-year-old girl who survived – because he had been jilted by the mother of the children.
On that fateful day, the father, Mthusi Nkomo (39), is said to have ironed his children’s school uniforms and then phoned his pregnant partner and mother of his children, South African, Sindy Mgqibelo, begging her to come home.
Before ingesting the poison-laced chips he had prepared for himself and his children, Nkomo wrote two letters, one to his eloped partner and the other to his relatives, outlining what he was about to do to himself and the children.
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Nkomo died with his adoptive son, Simphiwe (6) and his own son, Nkosinathi (2), after eating the chips. Prior to his death the police were called in and arrested Nkomo, who had earlier confessed to the crime but then asked the police to remove the handcuffs as he, himself, was about to die from the same poisoning.
He is said to have frothed at the mouth minutes after asking the police to remove the handcuffs, and collapsed and died. The girl, who cannot be named, survived the incident and is currently recuperating with Sindy’s family.
Besides the anger of being jilted by his lover, Nkomo is said to have cited the difficulties of raising the children alone. But this is no excuse at all to take your own life either, let alone those of innocent children.
If Nkomo faced financial difficulties in raising the children alone, he could have easily approached the Alexandra Police Station and explained his case. The cops would have put him in contact with social workers who would have done their utmost to assist him and the children.
I am sure they would have even called his ex-lover to see whether they could bring the couple together to talk it out. If that failed, he, Nkomo, would have been offered extensive counselling to ensure he overcomes his predicament and realises that life has to go on, with or without his lover.
Being jilted is not a new thing. How many people are jilted by their loved ones on a daily basis? Being jilted does not mean the end of the world. If he had resolved to live his life post-Sindy, who knows, maybe Nkomo would have found love again.
Nkomo was laid to rest in Zimbabwe.
