Jennifer Nyarko
The Legon police have claimed that they found prescription drugs believed to be used in treating a psychological condition in the room of the 23-year-old University of Ghana student who allegedly took her life on Wednesday.
Jennifer Nyarko, a final-year Consumer Science student, is said to have jumped from the fourth floor of the Akuafo Hall Annex building on the Legon campus.
The police had suspected that Jennifer Nyarko, who jumped from the balcony of the building, suffered from mental disorder as the father of the student, William Nyarko, conferred with them.
According to the police, though they are awaiting a post mortem report, their preliminary investigation had established that the deceased had been battling depression for some time, and also had some issues to contend with in school.
The victim, according to reports, had for the past days avoided lectures and living a solitary life till her untimely death.
Jennifer, who purportedly committed suicide at about 4:30 am Wednesday, was spotted by a passerby who raised an alarm for help, but she was pronounced dead upon arrival at the Legon hospital.
Speaking to Kasapa FM Thursday, Detective Chief Inspector George Kingsley Adu of the Legon police said his conversation with the deceased person’s father established that Jennifer was depressed and was on medication before her demise.
The Legon District Police Commander, DSP Ofori Anokye, in an interview disclosed that the drugs would be given to the medical doctor who’ll conduct the post-mortem for him to establish what ailments the drugs were used to treat.
“The case is still under investigation. I spoke to the father and he explained that the whole of the weekend the lady was with him; the mother said the same thing. I asked the father if the lady had a medical condition and he responded ‘…yes.’ According to him, when her daughter came to the university in 2012 she had to defer her course till 2013 and that she was being treated by a doctor at Valley View University for a psychological ailment. We’ve taken some drugs from her room which will be passed on to the medical doctor during the post-mortem examination for him to explain to us what the drugs are meant for,” he said.
Father Speaks
William Nyarko, the father, told the police that his daughter was suffering from mental illness.
Speaking to the Legon police, Mr Nyarko, a retiree, said his daughter had been struggling with a mental disorder since 2012 when she gained admission into the premier university.
He said at a point, she had to defer her course for one year as a result of her condition.
Nyarko said Jennifer had visited them during the weekend and also spent the March 6, 2017 independence holiday with them at their Adentan residence in Accra.
He said his daughter left for school last Tuesday morning only for them to receive a call announcing her death on Wednesday.