Savannah Moodley gone too early but forever in the hearts of loved ones |20 August 2015

Monday August 10 was a shocking day not only for Noella and Joey Moodley but for the whole of Seychelles. Around 8.30am in the morning, Mrs Moodley made the horrid discovery of her daughter Savannah, aged 17 years only, hanging from the curtain in her room. The teenager was already dead.

Soon after, the news went viral on the social network and everybody was in utter shock. The post received 465 likes and 340 comments. The police communiqué issued on August 13 read as follows: “The post mortem on the body of the 17-year-old girl found dead with a rope around her neck in her room at Bel Ombre has revealed that she died as a result of hanging. The case has been categorised as suicide. The incident was reported to the police by the girl’s mother in the morning of Monday this week.”

The tragedy of a young person dying through suicide is devastating to family, friends, and community. Parents, siblings, classmates and neighbours might be left wondering if they could have done something to prevent that young person from turning to suicide. But the Moodley family, both mother and dad, accept the reality and are just praying for the progress of the soul of their lovely daughter Savannah who followed her secondary studies at Belonie school.

Savannah turned 17 in February and she was studying for her A-Levels at the School of Advanced Level Studies, Anse Royale. She was studying Law, Economics and Business Management. Those who knew her say that “she was a girl full of life and she was always polite and greeted people on her way”.

She was a very active young person and even attended a youth conference in Madagascar in August 2013 and a youth conference in Praslin the same year.

She was also very active in her choir, Angels Choir, for the last 12 years.

Seychelles NATION talked to the parents on the eve of her funeral and they shared their feelings with us. 

“My daughter was a bright, fun-loving being and always found a way to bring happiness to me and made me feel proud. She always described me as a disciplined parent to her friends and she even told me she liked the way I brought her up when she saw others in difficulties. This unfortunate event shocked me terribly as my daughter never showed any sign of depression. Recently she has been showering lots of affection to me and I could not believe what happened. But I dreamt of her and she gave me the key to find what the reason was. As a parent, losing a child leaves a big hole and nobody can replace that. Thank God I have full Faith in Him who gives me the courage and energy to deal with this event,” said Mrs Moodley.

Mr Moodley shared that he was out of the country when he got the news and he was “taken aback”.

“It is very tough to learn that your only child has committed suicide and you start asking yourself lots of question. But with the help of prayers from our friends and families, we are able to accept this hard reality. I hope this event brings some positive things to other parents to start paying closer attention to their teenage sons and daughters. We do not want any parents to go through the same ordeal we are going through,” he added.

The friends of Savannah held a memorial gathering at the National Baha’i Centre last Wednesday and one at her school on Friday.

You can pay your last respect to Savannah at the Padayachy’s Parlour at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception today at 11.30am. A religious ceremony will take place at 2pm at the same church followed by cremation at Surya Memorial Hall.

The following is a poem taken from Savannah’s diary.

“Make memories.

Deal with it.

Be careful of your actions.

Learn, grow, stay true to yourself.

Beware of those who seek to wrong you.

Words are intricate.

Pay attention.

Be wise.”