A widower still can’t come to terms with the death of her husband at the Mental hospital in Windhoek last month. Susan Naris (54) whose late husband, Abednego Narib, was suffering from a medical condition was repeatedly admitted at the Mental hospital since 1994.

“The hospital would send him home when his condition is improving and when he is getting worse they normally take him in again. After six years at home he was taken in again earlier this year in July. When he went back I never imagined that he would die there,” Naris says.

She further says that he was previously treated well at the hospital, but things apparently already changed after a few days in hospital.

“A few days after he was taken in I was told that I cannot see him anymore, because he has apparently become aggressive. How can that be? My husband was never an aggressive person,” she says.

She further says that she was also not allowed to personally bring him food or clothes that she had bought for him. “I am not even sure if he got the things that I brought for him. They would put them into a bag and write his name on.”

“On 11 July I received a phone call from the hospital requesting me to come there. I immediately rushed to the hospital after the call. Inside I saw his bags and blankets. I thought that he was dismissed. I started to build up beautiful pictures of him coming back home, but the pictures slowly started to fall apart as one of the staff told me ‘I am sorry, but Mr. Narib has passed away’.”

The saddened woman further demands to know why she was not informed that her husband was not well. “I don’t accept his sudden death. On his death certificate it states that the investigation is continuing. I want to know what killed him. I want answers.”

Searching for answers, Naris said that the mortuary on Tuesday told her that she must open a case at the Namibian police: “I will go there tomorrow, because I want to know what killed my husband.”

When Informanté visited the medical hospital on Wednesday a nurse from the male ward admitted that Narib was a patient there, but refused to reveal any further information. “Yes, I remember him. He would normally come in and out of the hospital. The last time he came back he unfortunately died. I cannot say anything more. Please contact the medical superintendent at the Katutura hospital.”

Explaining why Naris was not allowed to see her husband, another male nurse at the mental hospital claimed that, “If the patient is too aggressive we keep them away from people, because they might hurt themselves or others.