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| The funeral, father Stout Pheto (left) |
A father buried three children on the same day after they all committed suicide within a week of each other.
Stout Pheto of South Africa, spoke about the sadness of burying three of his children on the same day after they committed suicide over money from their late mother.
"It hurts for any parent to bury a child, but I had to bury three of my children in one day," Pheto said.
The siblings, two brothers and a sister, were arguing over money, which was left to them by their late mother.
The two brothers were questioning their 22-year-old sister Moipone Pheto about where she got the money for her lavish lifestyle. The brother suspected that she scammed them out of a large part of the inheritance without disclosing it to them.
On Thursday evening, after the argument, which may have caused her a lot of stress, Moipone drank poison and was rushed to a hospital where she later died.
Although the family was still mourning her death, her older brother, Molefi, 25, drank poison and died on Sunday night. The final blow came when another brother, Tumelo, 22, committed suicide on Tuesday night. Tumelo and his sister Moipone were twins.
"I was in my room when my son Molefi came and told me that his sister Moipone had died. He also said that he hated her because she had betrayed him,” the father said.
"On Sunday, Molefi packed his belongings and said he was going to his grandparents’ house," the father added. "I was shocked to receive a call saying Molefi had committed suicide. I was still mourning the death of my two children when Tumelo committed suicide on Tuesday,” Pheto said.
Pheto explained that in the weeks before their deaths, the brothers discovered that Moipone had forged Molefi’s signature on an affidavit. The father believes that Moipone had all the money from their mother’s pension fund and that's how she was able to buy a house and cars.
“I think Molefi Moipone felt guilty that his sister had committed suicide after their argument and that's why he took his life, and Tumelo followed," a broken-hearted Stout Pheto said.
The twins, Tumelo and Moipone, were buried in the same grave, and Molefi was buried next to them.