Two families in Berbice are now in mourning following two suicide deaths in the county on Friday.
The dead are 16-year-old Alleia Khandhai, of Lot 3 Palmyra Village, who succumbed after consuming a poisonous substance on Friday evening, and Mahendra Singh, 30, of Number 64 Village Corentyne, who succumbed the same day, after also consuming a poisonous substance days earlier.
Khandhai’s family said she ingested the substance a short while after a meeting with her boyfriend. “After he gone, then me see she come down the step and start vomit so me rush she to the hospital,” her grandfather said afterward.
The teen’s mother died some four years ago, after which her grandparents took her and her younger siblings in. Relatives described the teen as being an outspoken, jovial person.
Meanwhile, Singh succumbed on Friday night at the Skeldon Hospital, where he had been taken after ingesting the poisonous substance.
Stabroek News was told he was currently before the court on a wounding charge and was afraid of possible jail time.
Singh attended the Number 51 Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday for a hearing, after which he returned home and told relatives his fear of being imprisoned. The man then went to work the next day as usual and returned home and drank the unknown substance. He is survived by his wife and their two small children.
Meanwhile, another family is hoping for the recovery of a 15-year-old, who is currently a patient in intensive care in a county hospital after she also ingested a poisonous substance.
A PAHO/WHO report, released in 2014, had identified Guyana as having the highest rate of suicide in the world at 2012.
If you, or any one you know is experiencing suicidal thoughts, you can contact the suicide helpline to receive assistance. The Inter Agency Suicide Prevention Help Line can be accessed through the following:
Telephone: 223-0818, 223-0009 and 223-0001
Mobile: 600-7896 or 623-4444
Email: moc.oohay@ycnegayug
BBM: 2BE55649 or 2BE56020
Twitter: @guyanaagency
Whatsapp: 600-7896 or 623-4444
Facebook: Guyana Interagency Suicide Prevention Help Line