Walvis Bay – An Anglican priest at Walvis Bay, Philemon Shimwoshili Haufiku, who committed suicide on Friday morning at the town, appears to have had marital problems with his young wife.
The 65-year-old pastor left a suicide note citing irreconcilable marital problems with his wife, New Era learnt.
The suicide note was found on him by relatives who lived with him in the same house.
The contents of the note were not made public but New Era understands that Haufiku was married to someone much younger than him. The wife was not in town when he committed suicide.
She is currently employed at the Okahandja Municipality and is allegedly rarely at home, relatives say.
Haufiku killed himself at his residence on Friday morning at around 09h00.
According to the coastal police, Haufiku, of the Anglican Church at the town, allegedly gassed himself on Friday, just several metres from the church building.
Detective Inspector Erastus Iikuyu told New Era that the elderly pastor attached a pipe from his car’s exhaust pipe into the vehicle.
“He closed all doors and windows of the vehicle to allow smoke of the exhaust pipe into the vehicle. He suffocated from the smoke he inhaled,” Iikuyu explained.
A member of the congregation on Sunday told New Era that the pastor and his wife allegedly had marital problems since the wife moved to Okahandja.
“The congregation is aware that they had martial issues but we are shocked that it actually led to our pastor’s suicide. We were hoping that the couple would eventually iron out their differences and reconcile,” the church member said.