Teen medium led suicide
But only one followed through with him and jumped, coroner told
By Elena Chong
straitstimes.com
A HOME-TRAINED, self-professed Taoist medium, all of 16 years old, convinced six teenagers including his brother to enter into a suicide pact.
Ku Witaya had them in thrall to his theory that the world was coming to an end, and that to save it, they had to 'sacrifice' themselves.
But when it came to carrying out the pact on Aug 23, only he and his close friend, Sia Chan Hong, saw it through by leaping out of the ninth floor bedroom window of his home.
The other five came to their senses when they saw Witaya dead and heard Chan Hong, 16, moaning at the foot of Block 667 Jalan Damai in the Bedok Reservoir area.
Chan Hong died in hospital three hours later.
At a joint coroner's inquiry into the deaths of the two Tampines Secondary School students yesterday, a gag order was in force to stop the names of the student witnesses from being published.
The court heard that the group had planned to hold hands and leap from the 13th floor of the block in which Witaya lived, but with the entrance to the rooftop being locked, the group ended up in his bedroom.
Of the two witnesses who took the stand yesterday, one, aged 17 and now a salesman, testified that Witaya had raised the idea of the suicide pact two days before an Aug 22 barbecue to celebrate the birthday of one of their friends.
After most of the guests had left the party early on Aug 23, Witaya again spoke about joint suicides.
This witness said that while the seven of them were in Witaya's bedroom, one among them changed his mind and urged his friends not to jump.
Read the full story in Tuesday's edition of The Straits Times.
elena@sph.com.sg |
