The sad incident that occurred in Talenlsi District of the Upper East Region few days ago where a 35 year old man, Collins Yagbil got into covenant with his gods and scarified his children and also killed his wife, has sparked arguments over his state of mind.
The man is reported to have sacrificed his children to his gods on Thursday June 27 afternoon and killed the wife who met the incident and tried to stop him.
Since that day there have been discussions over his state of mind especially when he is said to have a history of behaving abnormally in the community.
But commenting on the unfolding story on A1 Radio, a Mental Health Expert and Regional Mental Health Coordinator at the Regional Health Directorate, Edem Quarshie Ameglah blamed the incident on the failure of the community members to report him or help him to get mental health care.
There are stories about how the man behaves sometimes towards community members and thought if the community members care for each other they would have helped Collins Yagbil to get medical attention.
Mr. Ameglah explained that the first sign of the man’s behavior should have prompted the community members that the man needed mental health care and should have taken him to the mental health facility but “… they somewhat did not take his behaviors seriously and may have led to the sad incident.
He said: “we now live in a community where members only concentrate on their private issues regardless of what is happening to their neighbor”.
Edem Quashie Ameglah encouraged that once someone sees that his/her neighbor is behaving unfriendly such a person needs to report that neighbor to the Police or the nearest health center for proper checks to be carried out.
“Let us live for each other because a neighbor’s troubles will somewhat become yours, like what has just happened in that community.” He said.
Mr. Ameglah however believed that if members of the community were that committed to each other, such an unfortunate incident would not have befallen them.
Source: A1radioonline.com | Moses Apiah | Ghana