A 43-year-old man died by suicide in police custody, after he was held for the alleged murders of nine people, including five children. Surinamese police confirmed the death on Monday, December 29th, after they found him hanged in his own jail cell.
The suspect was held following a mass stabbing carried out in Suriname’s capital Paramaribo, that led to the death of nine people. Neighbors said the motive for the killing spree was a heated telephone argument prior to the deceased attacking his estranged wife and their children with a knife. Subsequent violence was directed at their nearby neighbours too.
Police officers responding at the crime scene were also harmed by the knife-wielding man. In addition to the deaths of the adults and five children, a sixth child and one more adult is being treated in a local hospital with serious injuries.
Netherlands PM Dick Schoof—who visited the former Dutch colony in November—had “personally expressed” his sympathy to the Surinamese people over the horrific knife attack, reported the president’s office.
