Police rule out foul play in Mzingwane High death

POLICE have ruled out foul play in the death of a Form Four pupil from Mzingwane High School who allegedly hanged himself last week.

A postmortem has revealed that the boy died of asphyxia, a condition of severe deficient supply of oxygen to the body.

Ryan Siziba (16) of Bellevue suburb allegedly hanged himself last Tuesday night from the roof trusses of a disused boiler room behind the school hostels using his belt.

He was buried on Sunday at West Park Cemetery in Bulawayo.

Police and his family had earlier suspected foul play as some things allegedly did not make sense.

The school also allegedly cleaned up the boiler room before police commenced investigations.

Matabeleland South police spokesperson Inspector Philisani Ndebele said they had ruled out foul play although they were finalising

“We are rounding up investigations into a case of sudden death by hanging. A postmortem has indicated that the minor died as a result of asphyxia.

“We suspect this occurred from hanging. In the meantime we are treating the matter as sudden death,” he said.

On Sunday, Ryan’s father, Mr Noel Siziba, said he had laid his son to rest and was waiting for results from police investigations to reveal what really transpired leading to his untimely death.

“We are also now waiting for the school to come and give us an official report of what happened,” he said.

It was suspected that Ryan feared disciplinary action over alleged theft.

His body was found last Wednesday at around 6AM.

School authorities alleged that Ryan had stolen food from other pupils’ trunks with a 15-year-old friend from Pumula North suburb in Bulawayo. The friend and another Form Four pupil allegedly discovered Ryan’s body. — -@winnie_masara