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Satanism linked to suicides of two girls

Katlego Moeng

Katlego Moeng

The parents of two schoolgirls who committed suicide in Soweto are worried after one of them left a note indicating she was involved with a satanic cult.

"I am tired of this satanism. I can't leave them, so I am hanging myself," the note left by Ntombikayise Tshabalala read.

The 17-year-old girl killed herself on Tuesday afternoon.

Yesterday her young neighbour Delisile Mbhadane, 12, also hanged herself.

She had asked her mother whether she had heard of Ntombikayise killing herself and about her note.

Delisile's mother, Busisiwe Mbhadane, told Sowetan that her daughter asked her: "Mother, what would you do if I hanged myself?"

Mbhadane answered that she would give her a hiding.

The girls lived 20metres apart in Zola 2, Soweto.

Ntombikayise was a Grade 10 pupil at Lavela Secondary School while Mbhadane was in Grade 5 at Zola Higher Primary School.

Nomakhosi Tshabalala, Ntombikayise's mother, said: "I cannot explain what I am feeling. I am trying to be strong for my other two kids.

"Ntombikayise has mentioned this satanism church before. We never took her seriously.

"She came home from school as usual on Tuesday and I sent her to the shops.

"When she came back she went straight to her room."

Tshabalala said 20 minutes later when they checked she was hanging by her shoelaces from an electrical bar on the wall.

Mbhadane's daughter was found hanging by a tie in a friend's shack a few streets away from home.

"It baffles me. Delisile was a happy child. She loved playing and dancing," she said.

The deaths of the two girls have caused a stir in the community and speculation is rife that a ring recruiting the youth to the cult is operating in the area.

Community members and Tshabalala said they knew of people in this ring.

Police inspector Kay Makhubela said: "This is a serious concern to us.

"We don't know why two youngsters would kill themselves within such a short space of time.

"We are investigating and an inquest docket has been opened."

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