Two women commit suicide in Gilgil

Two women have committed suicide in different incidents in  Gilgil town.

This comes as the number of Kenyans committing suicide continues to rise, with many blaming it on the hard economic times and mental health. 

Residents of Langa Langa and Site estates found the two bodies on Monday morning. In the first incident, police and residents found the body of a mother of three hanging near Langa Langa shopping centre, a day after attending a Sunday service with friends.

The woman reportedly bade farewell to her friends yesterday after the service but was not taken seriously only for her body to be found in the morning.

Purity Kamau, a resident, said they sat together throughout the sermon in church, but she noted she appeared distressed.

“We went out for lunch in one of the local hotels and each of us left for home. She, however, told us she was leaving the following day although she did not indicate to where, and bid us farewell only for us to find her body this morning,” she said.

Gilgil OCPD Emmanuel Opuru confirmed the incident and said the body had been taken to the local hospital mortuary.

Opuru said a suicide note was found in one of her pockets, in which she said that life had become too unbearable for her and she could not cope with it.

“The note tells her friends to take care of her three children who are in school. We have taken her body to the mortuary awaiting postmortem,” he said.

In the second incident, the body of a 48-year-old woman was found near Comboni Polytechnic hanging from a tree.

James Kariuki, a witness, said the mother of two is well-known and worked in the local market selling belts and hats and it was not immediately clear what went wrong.

“She was last seen on Saturday since it was a market day and we are shocked by this turn of events that she has decided to take her own life in such a manner,” he said.

Opuru confirmed the incident saying her body had been taken to the local mortuary but noted the body did not have identification documents.

“There was no suicide note and we have taken her body to the mortuary and opened an inquest file into the two incidents,” he said.

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