Umhlatuzana family baffled by 21-year-old son’s bridge suicide

AN UMHLATUZANA family are struggling to come to terms with the death of their son, who ended his life by jumping off the N2 Umgeni interchange bridge on Saturday, less than two weeks after they celebrated his 21st birthday.

- YOSHINI PERUMAL

Nickeel Gokul, above, a computer science and engineering student at Varsity College, was described as an "exceptional child" who was an outstanding student.

His distraught father, Pranesh Gokul, said they were baffled about why their son took his own life, in the way which he did - by jumping from the bridge.

"Nickeel had exceptional qualities, and was very respectful. He did well in his academics and spent most of his time on his computer. He did not have a girlfriend, so it could not be any relationship problems which could have led him to suicide.

"He did not have financial problems, or any other problems that we knew of. I cannot understand why he would do something like this ... and feel like he could not come to us," Gokul said.

A police source told the POST that a truck driver, who was apparently driving behind Nickeel's VW Polo, had seen him suddenly stop his car on the bridge.

"The truck driver saw him stop, but he did not think anything sinister and continued driving. He then noticed that the young man jumped off his car and then threw himself over the bridge. It was too late for the truck driver to do anything," said the source.

"The truck driver then stopped further down the road and notified a tow-truck driver about what had happened. He went to investigate and found the young man's body.

"Sadly, he had died instantly. There was no suicide note on him or in his vehicle. He turned 21 on September 9," added the source.

Gareth Naidoo, head of KZN VIP Emergency Services, said they received multiple calls about a suicide just after midday on Saturday.