By Makur Adut

A twenty-year-old pregnant woman and mother of two children committed suicide in the Rumbek Juvenile Court building on Sunday.

Lakes State Police spokesperson Major Elijah Mabor Makuac confirmed the incident, stating that the woman was staying at the court building, which had ceased operating.

“It was built, but it was not functioning. So, the victim was residing at the side of the juvenile building and this is where she committed suicide,” he said.

He said the victim was taken to Rumbek State Hospital for treatment but unfortunately succumbed to death due to the injuries.

Mabor said no reason has been established as to why the woman committed suicide as she could not speak at the time.

“The body was taken back for burial and we are still trying to identify what was the cause of her decision.”

Suicidal cases have been on the rise in Lakes States over the past years. Early last month, a security guard manning the Catholic Good News Radio was found hanging on a rope in his cubicle at the station’s main gate in Rumbek.

In April, a 19-year-old woman committed suicide in Meen-Wal village in Rumbek East County. “We have recorded several cases of suicide with the most recent being a 19-year-old girl who committed a suicide in Meen-wal village in Rumbek East County and the investigation is still ongoing to identify the cause of the suicide because the cases are rising. Last week alone, two suicide cases were reported,” said Maj. Elijah Makuac, the police spokesperson in Lakes State.

The incident was the second to be reported in the area at the time, just two daus after another suicidal case in Wulu County.

“When we looked into these cases, they were alarming and that is why some time back we called on donors to fund awareness campaigns to check suicide,” said Daniel Laat Kon, a civil society activist in Lakes State, responding on the rise in such cases, in April, following the incidences.