A 21-year-old mason of Koforidua in the Eastern Region was on Wednesday put before a district court for attempting to commit suicide. The accused, Evans Anokye Agyekum, told the court, presided over by Mr Suleimana Musah that he was going to hang himself because his girlfriend had jilted him.
He pleaded guilty to attempted suicide. Inspector Patrick Adza, prosecuting, told the court that the complainant (name withheld) who is a farmer and a relative of the accused, both lived in the Oyoko Old palace, near Koforidua.
He said that on September 29, 2009 at about 5:30 am the complainant was on his way to attend to nature's call when he saw the accused hanging from the roof of a bathroom with a rope around his neck. According to the prosecution, the complainant raised an alarm and people rushed to the scene and untied the rope. He was then escorted to the Oyoko police station and handed over to the police. In his caution statement, the accused was said to have confessed to trying to commit the crime.
Asked why he wanted to die, Agyekum told the judge that his fiancee had left him and gone in for other men and could therefore not stand the shame and embarrassment. He was convicted on his own plea but the judge deferred sentence and ordered that Agyekum be taken to the Psychiatric Hospital for examination and possible treatment. The case was adjourned to October 5.
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