Budiriro – The Budiriro suburb is in mourning following the burial on Monday of 14-year-old Alisha Simango, who tragically took her own life last Friday. The circumstances surrounding her death have brought to light a series of troubling issues, painting a picture of a young girl grappling with mental health challenges and personal struggles.
Alisha, who was found dead in a bathroom having used a wrapping cloth (zambia) to end her life, had reportedly been exhibiting increasingly withdrawn and unusual behaviour in the days leading up to her death.
While initial reports focused on a love triangle as the primary cause, a closer examination of Alisha’s diary reveals a far more complex and troubling picture of a young girl struggling with a multitude of issues, raising serious questions about the support systems available to Zimbabwe’s youth.
“My name is Alisha. I was born in 2010, 9 June. Right now, as I am writing it is 2025, 14 March at night. I am 14 years old. I don’t know who to trust anymore with my secrets as a teen neighbour except for God the Lord whom I pray to,” Alisha wrote in her diary. “There is something going on in my life, school problems. I am in Form One and there is so much happening in my life every night. I am always crying. I wish someone was just there to comfort me.”
Her diary entries reveal a deep spiritual reliance and a profound sense of loneliness. She spoke of school problems, feelings of betrayal, and a general sense of isolation, indicating that her emotional turmoil extended far beyond romantic relationships.
Alisha’s father, Mr Simango, is struggling to comprehend the tragedy. He told The Herald, “She had come to my room to heat water for bathing while preparing for school. I then advised her to use the gas stove since the electric stove had a fault, but she said she would bath using cold water. I then asked her to notify me when she was done bathing, but she did not get back until I dosed off. When I woke up, I was surprised that my daughter had not come back to me as agreed. That is when I went to the bathroom to get a bucket. I found my daughter dead. I was the first person to find her. I still cannot believe what happened because there was no hint whatsoever that something was troubling her.”
He also recounted a conversation they had the day before, where Alisha requested US$30 for school expenses, which he promised to provide on Saturday.
The focus on the boyfriend, reportedly the son of a senior staff member at her school, may have overshadowed the deeper issues Alisha was grappling with. While the alleged kissing incident may have been a breaking point, her diary suggests that it was the culmination of a series of emotional burdens.
A source close to the family, who attended the funeral, revealed, “Alisha was buried on Monday, and the postmortem revealed that she died due to suffocation as a result of the cloth she used to commit suicide. Prior to her death, Alisha was acting abnormal and she was no longer herself. She was no longer talking to anyone, and most people around her commended her for being well a behaved girl. She would say strange things, and stay indoors every time.”
It was also revealed that she was no longer active at church and the previous week, her prophet said something about her death.
“It seems the spirit was haunting her, and that’s when she started writing all that stuff in her diary,” a source revealed. “On Sunday last week, the prophet at her church called her, but she was not there. The prophet said, he was looking for Alisha, and in his spirit, he was seeing her in an enclosed place and he needed to pray for her. He was saying that he was feeling that he wanted to pray for her since she was going to commit suicide. She hasn’t been going to church for a while, and this happened. Alisha was no longer an active member, so no one even recognised her when the issue was raised in church until the time of her death.”
Another close source said, Alisha was having problems than the love issue. “Let’s be honest, Alisha was going through a lot and more than what the diary revealed. I am sure at home, there were serious issues, she couldn’t accept the fact that her parents were not well up. So, she had mental health issues.”
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