Body of woman who drowned with baby strapped recovered in Kirinyaga

The body of a 29-year-old woman who drowned after reportedly jumping into river Nyamidi in Kirinyaga with her baby strapped on her back was recovered Monday.

Residents of Kabiroini village in Gichugu, Kirinyaga said the body of Morren Wangui was found some 10 kilometres downstream.

Police said the body was discovered by residents who were out harvesting grass on the riverbanks.

The woman’s uncle Stephen Kinyua told journalists they identified the body later on.

The body had been swept by the raging waters and had many injuries, witnesses and police said.

The family and residents had been camping at the river as they continued with the search.

A third body of an unidentified man was also discovered by the search team as they combed the river in search of Wangui’s and that of her little daughter, police said.

The body is yet to be identified and is suspected to be a case of drowning.

Gichugu sub-county police commander Johnson Wachira confirmed the incident, saying the deceased had been seen by a coffee factory watchman jumping into the river together with her child in a suspected suicide mission.

The motive of the incident is however yet to be known, he said.

The body of the woman and her five-year-old child were taken to Kibugi Funeral Home in Kutus.

That of the child had been recovered earlier on in the area.

The third body of an unknown man was taken to Kerugoya mortuary awaiting identification and autopsy.

The incident shocked Kabiro-ini villagers.

Her grandmother Fridah Njoki told journalists that Wangui and her daughter had come to visit her as her parents, who are civil servants work in Embu County.

Cases of suicide are on the rise in the country amid calls to address the trend. The incidents are linked to societal trauma.

Police say they record at least two cases of suicide daily.