Why Legon Student Allegedly Committed Suicide

A Level 400 student of the University of Ghana jumped to her death at the university at dawn yesterday, and her parents have attributed the demise of their daughter to a mental disorder she had suffered for the past five years.

The deceased, Jennifer Nyarko, 23, was an Agriculture and Consumer Science student of the university.

She is said to have fallen from the fourth floor of the Akuafo Hall Annex A and was found by a student who was on her way to pray.

The passer-by, who found the victim lying motionless in a pool of blood, raised an alarm which attracted other students who were either sleeping or getting ready for lectures in the early hours of the day.

Police called
Confirming the incident to the Daily Graphic, the Legon District Commander, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), Mr Emmanuel Ofori Anokye, said the victim was pronounced dead at the Legon Hospital.

He said the police received distress phone calls about the incident around 5 a.m., and a team of policemen was immediately despatched to the scene.

The victim was taken to the Legon Hospital in the hospital’s ambulance but was pronounced dead on arrival.

The Crime Scene Unit of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service was also informed, and when the Daily Graphic arrived at the crime scene, experts were busily working.

Mr Anokye said the police had begun investigations into the circumstances that led to death of the student.

Speculations
Following the incident, speculations were rife on campus that the victim had been suffering from bipolar disorder, while others claimed the fate of the student could have been as a result of a broken heart.

One of her roommates told the Daily Graphic that Miss Nyarko was on the phone throughout the night before her death, and it was suspected that she was talking to a man until she (the roommate) slept.

The mobile phone was found on the victim’s bed, and the police said the last caller was a female friend who confirmed to the police that miss Nyarko had called her to inform her pastor to pray for her that night since she was having an attack.

Victim’s father
The father of the victim, Mr William Nyarko, who was contacted by the police, arrived at the Legon Police Station later, in the company of the victim’s mother for interrogation and to assist the police in their investigations.

During interrogation, Mr Nyarko, a retiree, is said to have told the police that his daughter had been struggling with a mental disorder since 2012 when she gained admission to the university.

Mr Nyarko is said to have told the police that his daughter, at a point, had to defer her course for one year as a result of her condition.

The father of the victim also told the police that she had visited them during the weekend and also spent the March 6, 2017 holiday with them at their Adentan residence, in Accra.

He said his daughter left for school last Tuesday morning only for them to receive a call announcing her death yesterday morning.