A helpline counts 65 suicide deaths already this year
Mauritius has logged 65 suicide deaths since January, a toll Befrienders president Sheila Cheekhoory calls deeply worrying, voiced as the country marked World Suicide Prevention Day on 10 September.
Cheekhoory says the subject stays taboo, and the hardest sentence to say aloud is the simplest: I am not okay. Her charity takes 500 to 600 calls a month. Many come from teenagers aged 15 to 18 facing conflict at home or bullying.
Some of those youngsters ask a chatbot first; it steers them to the helpline, where a person actually listens. That handover is the whole point.
A Rs 88 billion claim over vanished digital assets reaches the PM
Reform Party leader Roshi Bhadain used a meeting with PM Ramgoolam this week to flag a Rs 88 billion claim against the state and several police officers. He insists the sit-down was not political.
Behind the figure sits a 2023 Supreme Court case by Digitus Holdings, now in liquidation. The firm says its digital assets became unrecoverable after the computers holding them deteriorated in police storage. The euro sum, 1.617 billion, works out to about Rs 88.2 billion today.
Tourism welfare levy goes up for bosses and workers alike
Monthly dues to the Tourism Employees Welfare Fund are rising: employers from Rs 60 to Rs 80, employees from Rs 20 to Rs 40, and freelance singers and musicians from Rs 80 to Rs 120. Cabinet cleared the change on Friday, though it has not said when new rates bite.
Roche-Bois crowd turns on father at murder reconstruction
Jean Daniel Perrine returned to his Roche-Bois home on Friday to reconstruct the killing of his baby son, Adriano, seven months old, on 23 August. Helmeted and under heavy police escort, he showed how he attacked the sleeping child. Neighbours and his own sister reacted with fury. He stays in custody until a court date on 14 September.
Shorts
Inflation edges up to 4.9% – The yearly rate climbed to 4.9%, keeping the squeeze on household budgets firmly in place.
Cheap travel deals hide fake agencies – Officials warn that those bargain flights and packages online often come from unregistered agencies.
Medical Council snubs a UoM public health degree – Doctors learned their University of Mauritius Master of Public Health isn't recognised as an added qualification.
Rights body decries abuse of a young officer – The rights commission condemned the humiliating online abuse aimed at recruit Mary Jade Catherine.
Union fights lateness fines after Metro breakdown – A parastatal union told the transport minister staff shouldn't be docked for lateness caused by the 4 September outage.
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