Suicide tragedy of bullied schoolgirl
Lufuno had a bright future but it ended in tragedy when she took her life after a brutal bullying incident
MBILWI Secondary School was known for making headlines around South Africa because of how often it achieved a 100% matric pass rate. That’s why Joseph Mavhunga wanted his clever lastborn child to attend the school in Sibasa, Limpopo – so she could secure a bright future for herself.
But the school has been making headlines for all the wrong reasons in recent weeks after 15-year-old Lufuno Mavhunga committed suicide.
There’s no bright future ahead for the Limpopo teenager, who’s believed to have taken her life after being bullied by a fellow learner.
Lufuno’s family are battling to deal with the feelings of grief and utter devastation.
Her parents, Joseph and Fulufhelo, siblings and classmates laid her to rest on 16 April and they’re struggling to come to terms with her death.
“As a family we’re all still trying to make sense of this,” her elder brother Kenneth (39) tells YOU from his home in Pretoria.
His baby sister overdosed on pills shortly after a video went viral of her being beaten, allegedly by a fellow learner on school grounds.
In the footage of the pupils in school uniform, Lufuno is seen being confronted by two girls then attacked by another. She’s pulled by the hair and slapped repeatedly across the face.
Lufuno, choosing not to retaliate or raise a hand to defend herself, simply tells the girl, “You’re hurting me.”
It’s believed the fight broke out because Lufuno had blocked one of the girls on WhatsApp and Facebook after allegedly receiving intimidating messages from her on the social media platforms. They demanded to know why she’d blocked the girl.
Footage of the fight and children shrieking as they gathered around the incident was captured on a phone and did the rounds on social media that same afternoon.
Lufuno’s family believe the shame and embarrassment was too much.
Within about five hours of the video going viral, she ended her life, Kenneth says.
They simply can’t believe it. “We were all looking forward to what the future had in store for her.”
LUFUNO was the youngest of nine children. “She was the lastborn, the baby, so as her older siblings we looked out for her like she was one of our own kids,” Kenneth says. The Grade 10 learner was dedicated to her studies and once told Kenneth how she wanted to be a doctor after she finished school.
She was an independent thinker, those who knew her say. “She wasn’t really one for sport. She was hard-working, diligent and focused on her academics,” Kenneth says.
“When she finished Grade 7 with a number of merit awards, our father decided to enrol her at Mbilwi Secondary School where she could focus on mathematics and science.”
They were proud of her achievements.
“Not just anyone ge t s into the school.”
When Lufuno got home the day she was attacked, her parents comforted her when she told them what had happened.
She’d also sent the video to her brother, Dakalo (25), to whom she was closest in age. That same day, he approached the principal of the school about the fight, but left without any certainty about what had happened.
When Dakalo returned home to check up on his little sister, he thought she was asleep.
“One of her nephews found her lying in the room and then alerted her mom,” Kenneth says. “She was still breathing but something looked wrong.” They thought she’d collapsed or fallen asleep in a weird position.
They were alarmed enough to call an ambulance after realising she was unconscious. But Lufuno was pronounced dead upon arrival at the hospital after ingesting a large amount of prescription pills she found in their home.
“It’s been a difficult time and the way things have unfolded has been unsettling,” Dakalo tells YOU. “She’ll always be remembered as a loving and thoughtful person who encouraged peace at home if any of us would argue.”
Her friends are also devastated. “Our hearts sank when we saw the bruises on her face,” her friend Mukoma Tshinakahi said during a moving tribute at her funeral. “What was her crime? Being silent? Being nice?”
THE Limpopo department of education launched an investigation into what transpired on the school grounds. The South African Human Rights Commission also visited the school and in its preliminary findings reported that the principal failed to take appropriate action when Lufuno’s family alerted him to the incident.
A 14-year-old girl was apprehended days later by police for the alleged assault. She’s believed to have been taken to a correctional youth centre.
“As we wait for the Human Rights Commission to complete their investigations, which are ongoing, we hope to get more clarity with how it was handled,” Kenneth says. “We believe more could’ve been done by the school.”
Lufuno’s death has once again shone the spotlight on bullying in schools.
Miss SA Shudufhadzo Musida called the incident emotional and shared her own experience of being bullied as a child. “The Lufuno story is so triggering. All I can see is how she just stood there and didn’t do anything because you get to that point,” she wrote on Instagram.
Teenage suicide attempts and bullying cases are on the rise, says Cayley Jorgenson from the South African Depression and Anxiety Group.
“Research shows that 23,6% of teens are struggling with feelings of hopelessness and sadness, which begs the question: are we as a community doing enough to support teens?
“It’s really important from a community perspective that teens are encouraged to reach out for support if they’re struggling.”
Kenneth, a father of two, believes home life plays a huge role in how children react around others.
“Our family is broken with the passing of my sister. But we’re also sensitive to the fact that there might’ve been other circumstances in her attacker’s home life that might’ve contributed to the way she handled the situation with Lufuno,” he says.
“As parents we need to get more involved in the lives of our young ones,” Kenneth adds.