Rundu — The medical examination into the deaths of a couple in their bedroom last week at Tondoro, Rundu, has revealed that the two died of a stroke and a heart attack respectively.

Medical examiners at Rundu State Hospital have determined that Joseph Himarwa was a diabetic and died from a stroke caused by the illness. His wife, Klara Sindimba, died of a heart attack upon learning that her husband had died.

The couple was buried last Friday at the village some 70 kilometres west of Rundu. Both were civil servants who were employed at the Matava Primary School, where Himarwa served as the school principal and Sindimba as a teacher.

The rumour mill went into overdrive immediately after the news of their death, with conjecture about possible poisoning, after a yellow-like substance was discovered in Himarwa's mouth.

The police and medical investigation has now cleared the air.

"The substance that came out of his mouth was sugar ... it is presumed that she tried to [give] him sugar as usual to boost his sugar levels, but it was too late. Upon realising that he was already dead, she collapsed and died," said Nampol's Acting Regional Crime Investigations Co-ordinator in the region, Detective Inspector Chrispin Mubebo.

Hundreds of friends, relatives and members of the education fraternity gathered at the village to pay their last respects to the former principal and his wife. The couple were found dead by their daughter in their bedroom on Monday morning at Tondoro village. The couple left behind 13 of their own children and over 20 children who lived with them.

Meanwhile, in an unrelated incident, the body of a 29-year-old man was discovered on the premises of the Rundu Secondary School last week. Alan Tovoro Makuki's body was found lying on the ground after the rope he hanged himself with broke from the tree he was hanging in. Detective Inspector Mubebo confirmed the suicide, adding that no suicide note was left behind and that the relatives of the deceased have been informed.

Sources suggest that the deceased had a squabble with his girlfriend before storming out of the house and proceeding to take his own life. He lived with his mother, a hostel matron, at the school where his body was discovered.