Bullied Student Attempts Suicide

DIBETE: Dibete Police and Social Workers at Mookane are investigating an incident in which a 15-year-old Form Three student at Mookane Junior Secondary School attempted suicide, because he was being bullied by an age mate at school.

According to Dibete Police acting station commander, assistant superintendent Edward Williams other students freed their colleague who was found hanging by the neck in the hostels.

“We received the report on Thursday from the school authorities that a 15-yearold student was found by other students hanging and he was taken to the clinic before he was taken to Mahalapye Primary Hospital where he was observed and later released,” he said. Williams said the student who used his school tie to try and take his own life told school authorities that he wanted to kill himself because he had had enough of being bullied by a fellow 15-year-old Form Three student, who would always bully him and take his food during mealtime.

Though Social Media has been awash with videos exposing student-on-student attacks and violence, Williams said such cases were not rife in their policing area.

He said they always go out to schools in their precincts to speak to students and warn them against violent behaviour as something that has the potential to mess up their futures.

Meanwhile, Williams said their policing area was doing well in fighting the spread of the coronavirus (COVID- 19).

“Our people here are law abiding citizens. They do not throw parties and abide to COVID-19 protocols, which is why we think there has not been a single case recorded,” he said.

“Dikgosi and other village elders speak to them and they listen. They also advise their loved ones who work in Gaborone, which is not far away, to not visit them as a way to protect them from contracting the virus.” On another hot topic of genderbased violence (GBV), Williams said they did not have many cases.

Williams, however, said this could be because a lot of people protect perpetrators and do not report cases to the police.

He said they are continuously engaged with residents, teaching them and urging those being abused to report their cases to the police to avoid losing their lives.