WALVIS BAY – A Walvis Bay family is reeling in shock after their bubbly daughter, Frieda Dhiginina Mapowe (15) allegedly hanged herself in their home. She was an eighth grader.
Frieda was found on Monday at 20h00 by her brother Daniel in the bathroom where she had hanged herself with a scarf.
Daniel upon coming home did not see his sister as usual and became worried that she was out of sight for such a considerably long time.
Around 20h00 he called out her name but there was no reply. However, Daniel noticed that the bathroom door was locked as he searched for his sister in the house.
He then peeped through the keyhole and after he saw an arm swinging went on to break down the door, whereafter he shockingly found her hanging from the roof of the bathroom with a scarf around her neck.
Frieda was his baby sister whom he raised as his own daughter, since their parents stay in the north.
“My sister was a happy teenager. She did not really have a lot of friends. She loved singing and that’s how we would find her every day when we came home from work … singing and dancing. There was not a song whose lyrics she didn’t know,” he explained to New Era.
Daniel says he has been asking himself whether he had missed any sign that could have prevented the tragedy. “I had dreams and aspirations for my sister. I loved her so much that is why I fail to understand why she did it,” said a grief-stricken Daniel.
He said his sister performed poorly in school the last three years, although she had excelled from Grade 2 to Grade 5.
She was a learner at Tutaleni Primary School last year where she failed Grade 8.
“She enrolled at Duinesig Secondary School this year and she even wrote a motivational note to herself in which she set targets of getting A’s again this year in all her subjects. I am battling to understand why she did it as she could speak to us about anything. We even talked about school and whether she was experiencing any difficulties as it was a new school, but she was adjusting well. There were no signs she was in distress,” Daniel said.
Daniel says he and his wife took it upon themselves to help her everyday with homework, which she was eager to do as she wanted to reach her goals.
“She even attended Sunday school at ELCIN and was chosen as the chairperson of the Sunday school. I did not notice any behavioural changes or mood swings. What she did doesn’t make sense,” he said.
The teenager left a hand-scrawled suicide note in which she thanked God for her life, her parents and family though she did not indicate what drove her to take her own life.
A memorial service was held yesterday afternoon at the Nakambale Lutheran Church in Kuisebmond for Frieda.
The second memorial service will be held at their parents’ residence at Oshikweyo village on Friday while the funeral will take place on Saturday at Uukwiyu Uushona Church
– edeklerk@nepc.com.na