Camy Tam
A local prisoner committed suicide in his cell at Coloane prison on Friday afternoon, according to a statement from the Correctional Service Bureau (DSC) that day.
According to the statement, the deceased was a 48-year-old local man surnamed Sit believed to have used clothes to hang himself. He has been in prison since April last year, initially on remand, for committing computer forgery, violation of confidentiality, taking bribes to commit illegal acts and providing illegal shelter. Sit was sentenced in June to 16 years behind bars.
At about 3:50 p.m. on Friday, a prison guard checking the cells discovered that Sit had hanged himself with clothes. The guard immediately notified the medical staff at the prison to provide first aid and called an ambulance to rush him to the public Conde de São Januário Hospital Centre. The hospital staff informed the prison administration at about 5 p.m. that they had been unable to save Sit‘s life and notified the Judiciary Police to investigate, the statement said.
According to the statement, the prisoner’s emotions were severely affected after he was sentenced to 16 years behind bars. When Sit showed signs of being suicidal, social workers immediately provided him with in-depth counselling and continued to pay close attention to his emotional and psychological situation. At the same time, the prison authorities had strengthened their security measures, including prison guards checking his cell, that he was sharing with other inmates, every 30 minutes.
The statement pointed out that the authorities discovered that Sit had stopped taking the medication prescribed by the doctor recently, and that he intended to commit suicide. Therefore, the prison authorities closely monitored his condition. However, Sit left a suicide note and used clothes to hang himself while his cellmates were out of the cell on Friday.
The bureau deeply regretted the incident and immediately contacted the bereaved family to provide them with all the necessary assistance and support, the statement underlined.
According to a separate statement by Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Chan Wun Man on the same day, a strangulation mark was found on the deceased’s neck, caused by hanging and no other suspicious or possible criminal injuries were found on the corpse.
The prison guard told the police that he discovered Sit had hanged himself with a piece of a long-sleeved undershirt from the bunk bed in the cell during a routine check, according to Chan’s statement.
The case has been temporarily classified as a suspected suicide case, and the cause of death has yet to be confirmed by a forensic doctor. The Judiciary Police are continuing their investigation into the case, according to Chan.
