A 58-year old night watchman identified only as Amass has committed suicide by hanging at Chirapatre in Kumasi.

The body of the deceased, who worked at Chirapatre  Roman Catholic Primary School was found behind the school’s library in the early hours of Friday.

Until his death, Amass was the security man for Chirapatre Roman Catholic Primary ‘A’ and ‘B’ and the school’s Library.

The divorcee husband tied a skipping rope to the branch of the tree, and tightened it with his walking stick, with his torchlight at the base.

According to Head teacher of the school, Slipy Mensah, the deceased has been suffering from what looked like stroke for the past two years.

He says Amass was due for retirement next year but could not tell what might have caused him to kill himself.

“He wasn’t showing any sign of mental ailment but he was very weak and couldn’t walk properly for close to three years”, he revealed.

At a point, school authorities say they suggested another watchman to assist him which he agreed.

Academic activity was delayed in the early hours of Friday as the compound became chaotic with anxious children trooping in to the scene to catch a glimpse.

“We have asked the students to be indoors and later we will explain things to them. There is no fear among the students. In fact some don’t even know what is happening,” Mr. Mensah said.

Mr. Mensah says school authorities will take pupils and teachers through psychological counseling to enable them to overcome the effect of the tragedy.

 “Psychologically, we have to psych both the students and teachers and even those around. We have plans of doing that but not this morning,” he added.

Residents are surprised at the turn of event because this is the first time such an incident has occurred in the community.

“That is the first time this incident has happened here. Though we always here of such incident on radio, we are surprised someone could do this,” a worried woman told Luv News.

Traditional authorities were brought in to pour libation and perform other rituals before the body was taken off the tree and handed over to police.

Assemblyman for Chirapatre, Bismark Osei Tutu, says immediate steps will be taken to have a replacement for the departed watchman to secure the school.

Police at Asokwa division have begun investigations while efforts are underway to contact relatives of the deceased.