Can’t rule out suicide by Rohde

IS IT possible to commit suicide as alleged in the Rohde case?

I have read the evidence in Wednesday’s Cape Argus about the looseness or tightness of a noose around the neck of the supposed murder victim, Mrs Rohde.

Under the heading “Manual strangulation cannot be ruled out”, an equally valid question is whether suicide could be ruled out.

In case the expert witness was less reckless as a youngster than myself, he may not have had first-hand experience of how very easy it is to render oneself unconscious.

When I was a young chap – in Grade 10 or so – we used to play (in retrospect) a rather dangerous game.

Any piece of cloth could be used. For example a kitchen cloth.

One would stand, wind up the cloth, wrap it around the neck, take the right end in the left hand and the left end in the right hand, inhale and tighten the noose by pulling it upwards and crosswise.

The result was that one lost consciousness within seconds. I have once done this and the next thing I found myself on the floor.

I recovered fully within a minute or so because obviously when I fell I released my grip on the ends of the kitchen towel.

So, what I am trying to convey is that if Mrs Rohde had indeed wrapped a cord around her neck, hooked it over a door and simply sat down, she would have lost consciousness within seconds and, not being able to release the tension on the cord, she would have died.

So, without knowing all the ins and outs, it seems to me that suicide was clearly possible and on the cards. suicide could, therefore, also not be ruled out.