PARAMARIBO, Suriname (CMC) — A Suriname father who is alleged to have stabbed nine people to death on Sunday, including five of his own children, may have used the bandages from the treatment he received from gunshot wounds to commit suicide.

Suriname police said that Dennis Aroma was found hanging in his cell on Monday morning after he had been discharged from the Academic Hospital Paramaribo (AZP) on Sunday evening and transferred to the cell house at the Centrum police station, where he was placed in an observation cell as a precaution.

They said the 42-year-old man had been shot  by law enforcement officials who had gone to the Commewijne district located on the right bank of the Suriname River, on Sunday after receiving reports of the murders.

He had been remanded into custody in connection with the investigation into the deaths of nine people found on Hadji Iding Soemitaweg in Tamansarie, in the Commewijne district of the country.

Preliminary investigation indicates that Aroma used the bandages from the splint around his lower right leg to commit suicide. An autopsy has since been  ordered and the  investigation into the precise cause of death and the conditions in the cell is being continued by the Major Crimes Unit.

Police say preliminary investigations indicate that the suspect was a mentally disturbed person, who had  had been arguing over the phone with his wife, who  he had been separated from. The conflict centered on picking up the children after the woman reportedly indicated that she did not want to come to the address herself and would send someone else to pick them up.

After this conversation, the suspect became completely distraught, allegedly attacked 11 people with a knife, killing nine victims, including his own children. Neighbours who came to help were also stabbed. Two of the victims, including the man’s  eldest daughter, have since been hospitalised with stab wounds.

Meanwhile, the National Council on Domestic Violence (NRHG) is calling for faster and better coordinated interventions when signs of escalating domestic violence are detected, following Sunday’s incident, described by police as the deadliest mass killing ever carried out by a single individual in the Dutch-speaking Caribbean Community (Caricom) country.

In a statement, the NRHG said that life-threatening situations must be recognised earlier and immediately stopped to prevent a recurrence of such tragedies as it also  expressed its deepest condolences to the bereaved and all those involved.

The council said that the incident has deeply affected the Surinamese society and “painfully underscores the need for more effective action in situations involving serious tensions, psychological problems, and threats within families”.

The council, recently re-established by the Minister of Justice and Police, has now begun structured discussions with relevant stakeholders and executive agencies to provide important input for the development of a new policy plan focused on preventing and addressing domestic and gender-based violence.

According to the council, it is crucial that immediate and coordinated crisis intervention takes place when signs of an acute threat to children and other family members are detected. It said  this requires closer cooperation between emergency services, the police, healthcare, and social services, so that life-threatening situations can be interrupted in a timely manner.

It said work has recently begun to update the national referral pathway for domestic and gender-based violence and that a key priority for the coming period is strengthening collaboration between government and non-government organisations that support both victims and perpetrators of domestic violence.

The NRHG said it aims to establish formal collaboration agreements in the coming year, based on clear protocols, to enable short lines of communication and rapid intervention when situations escalate.