A 63-year-old man, John Abbam, has committed suicide by hanging with a bathing sponge on a tree at Lebanon Zone 3, a suburb of Ashaiman, yesterday.
A bicycle and a pair of slippers later identified as his were found at the scene when the police arrived to carry the body away.
Sporting a blue shirt and pair of khaki shorts with a brown belt, the deceased hanged himself with a blue sponge tightly tied around his neck, as his tongue stuck out between his set of teeth. Reports indicate that he had attempted suicide five years ago.
John Abbam, who was married with five children and living with his wife and daughter, is believed to have sneaked out of his home in the early hours of Thursday and hanged himself on a tree at New Site where several buildings are currently under construction.
The eldest son of the deceased, Eric Abbam, told DAILY GUIDE at the scene that the death of his father came as a shock to the family, adding that he visited the rest of the family and actually spoke to his late father a day before the incident.
He continued that earlier in the week, his father who was a former worker of WAHOME Steel in Tema, and sold water to residents of the area, had complained that the water lines to his house had been disconnected and therefore needed money to have them restored.
“We, his children contributed some money which amounted to GH¢400 and handed it to him so he could revive his water business.
I visited him and he explained to me that he had paid the money and was only waiting for the restoration of the lines. I later left for town and then to my place later in the day only to hear about his death from my younger sister,” Eric noted.
He described his father as a quiet person who mingled well with his neighbours and never had problems with anyone in the area. He added that his father’s death remains a mystery to him and the rest of the family.
Eric remarked that even though his father had tried to commit suicide about five years ago, the family least expected him to do it this time around, especially after recovering from a health problem he had with his ribs some months ago.
Some residents who, on hearing about the unfortunate incident rushed to the scene, described the deceased as a quiet person who sometimes sat under the very tree he committed the suicide on, to listen to his radio.
Others described him as a lovely person who was always seen with his wife in the mornings either going to or returning from the public toilet.
Chief Inspector Abraham Narh Tetteh, Station Officer of the Lebanon Police Station, confirmed the incident and narrated to DAILY GUIDE how his office heard about the death of the 63-year old.
According to him, both the Crime Officer and the PRO at the Tema Regional Police Command confirmed the incident to him and the remains have since been sent to the Police Hospital morgue in Accra for a postmortem.
From Razak Mardorgyz Abubakar & Vincent Kubi, Ashaiman