Disturbing Rise in Suicide Incidents

The Wouri Bridge is usually used by some victims, while others resort to hanging.

A woman living in Kye-Ossi, South Region, last weekend paid a surprise visit to her husband who had travelled to Douala in search for greener pastures. But what the mother of a three-year-old baby could never have imagined was that her "sweety" had found a new love.

Upon discovering this on Sunday September 15, 2013, she immediately hit the road in one direction: the Wouri Bridge. There, with her baby tied on her bag, she dived into the blue waters of the Atlantic Ocean, in a double suicide attempt. However, the timely intervention of a benevolent lorry driver who promptly stationed his vehicle and jumped in after her, saved her life. And that of her baby!

On a local radio station the following day, the survivor explained that she could not withstand the disappointment given that her whole life was centred on their relationship. The next day, Monday September 16, a man having committed suicide by hanging was found in his room by his nephew. The 40-year-old François Azantsa, whose wife had deserted him, was living alone in Makepe Missoke. In the wake of celebrations marking "World Suicide Prevention Day" on September 18, the above examples show the phenomenon is attaining disturbing proportions daily in the economic capital city.

Though no official figures are available, cases of suicide are recurrent on the media landscape. One could deduct that as the Municipal Lake is to Yaounde, so is the Wouri Bridge to Douala, that many people resort to, in a bid to easily execute their suicidal intentions. Celebrating the 11th edition this year on the theme: "Stigma: a major barrier to suicide prevention", psychologists believe that suicide-prone victims are usually influenced by their dread of the reaction from their entourage. Given that some people have feeble minds, they easily develop suicide tendencies due to their inability to handle a difficult or disastrous situation.

It would be noted that the reasons advanced for this gruesome act are varying, though a majority of recorded incidents centred on love deceptions. While some persons resort to drowning (recurrent on the Wouri Bridge), others consume poisonous substances for the same effect. In other cases, the victims hang themselves, which is believed to unleash misfortune upon the deceased's family.