Garawol Woman Commits Suicide

A young lady and a native of Garawol Village in the Kantora District of the Upper River Region (URR) recently succumbed to poison she purportedly drank.

Sources said the 21-year-old late Jorobou Jabbie took her own life after she couldn’t bear the persistent parental strife that plagued her family. She was reported to have drank the poison on Thursday morning and was rushed to Garawol Health Center. Sources added that she was later transferred to Basse Major Health Center, but succumbed to the toxic material at around 3am. 

Speaking to Daily Observer, the police commissioner in URR, Lamin Touray, described the incident as shocking, and urged the generally public to desist from suicidal behaviours. 

“According to our sources, the 21-year-old lady had been complaining bitterly about the continued fight between her parents and had warned them that she would do something bad if it didn’t stop. On Wednesday night, the mother of the victim reportedly left the compound and upon her return around 11pm, she found out that her husband had closed the door, thus denying her entry. 

This provoked a bitter quarrel between the two before the victim woke up from her bed to threaten them that she would do something they will forever regret. Then on Thursday morning around 9pm, the young lady reportedly drank the poison, which led to her death on the following,” the police regional chief informed.

The URR police chief said the tragic happened at a time when personnel of the security forces in the region have been deploying all strategies to halt the area’s alarming crime rate. He revealed that 90% of the crimes that occurred in the region, murder suspects have been arrested and are awaiting trial.

“Almost all the murder cases that occurred in the region are domestic violence. The communities should play a significant role in complementing our efforts in making the region and the country at large a crime-free-nation. Crimes such as robbery, cattle theft, shop breaking, amongst others, are history in the region, but murder cases and sexual offences proved to be real challenges. The police cannot be everywhere; there is the need for concerted efforts from the communities, especially the village police committees to always report these kind of issues to the nearest police station,” he said.

Touray said both parents were invited for questioning at the Basse Police Station and that the case is under marathon investigation.

Reacting to this incident, the deputy permanent secretary at the Office of the Vice President, Bintou Gassama-Jammeh, who was in the region for a two-day training on the UN Resolution 1325, also described the incident as “shocking”.

“Factors that led to the episode were as a result of the culture of silence, which should now be a thing of the past in our communities. It is clear that there was no person to counsel her and talk to her,” she said.

 “I am not blaming the girl, but the society and the parents, particularly the father. This is because beating is the last option. However, both of them should be held responsible for the loss of their daughter”. 

The assistance Project and Progamme officer at Women’s Bureau, Siaka Marong, said their office is doing all efforts to sensitise the public on domestic violence. He described quarrel between parents as bad and sometimes costly.

The victim was laid to rest on the same day at her native village.