39-year-old man found dead in well in suspected act of suicide

Correspondence from Eastern Region

Roland Chawey, a 39-year-old unemployed man has reportedly taken his own life by leaping into a well located in the Fofie Electoral Area in Asokore near Koforidua in the New Juaben Municipality of the Eastern Region.

Though it’s unclear the exact time the incident occurred, the lifeless body of the deceased was retrieved from the deep well in the early hours of Monday, August 28, 2023, where it is believed that he jumped into the well in an apparent act to commit suicide.

Information gathered by GhanaWeb indicated that in the early hours of the said day, a team of officers from the Municipal Secretariat, led by the Municipal Director, Helbert Danso, joined officers of the Asokore Zone after receiving a call from Isaac Osei, the Assemblyman for Fofie Electoral Area in Asokore that a man had drowned in the well.

Sources revealed that residents who visited the well to fetch water for their daily chores observed that a piece of walking stick used by Chaway and cloth
belonging to the ailing mother of the deceased but worn by the deceased the previous day, lay by the well.

This aroused the suspicion of members of the community who mounted a search for him throughout the area but to no avail.

After a fruitless effort to find him, the attention of the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS), National Disaster Management Organization (NADMO), and the police was drawn to the scene after fears intensified that Chaway may be underneath the water.

Personnel of the GNFS after mounting a ladder and searching the well discovered the remains of the deceased under the well.

Chaway’s remains were subsequently retrieved after personnel of the fire service flushed out the water from the well.

Though the motive behind the 39-year-old’s suspected act of ending his life remains unclear, some relatives attributed his action to his chronic alcoholism and drug abuse.

The family sources disclosed that Chaway who was recently taken ill, escaped from the health facility where he was undergoing treatment and continued with the alcoholism and drugs, leading to subsequent suicidal tendencies.

Security officers were at the scene to help normalise the situation and are conducting subsequent investigations into the incident.

Roland Chaway did not leave behind a wife or children.

The body has since been deposited at the morgue of the St. Joseph's Hospital in Effiduase-Koforidua by the NADMO and officers of the Ghana Police Service officers, along with the family of the victim.