Woman commits suicide in police cell

There was drama in Mai Mahiu police station in Naivasha after a woman arrested for selling chang’aa committed suicide in one of the cells.

This brought to two the number of suspects who have committed suicide in police cells in Naivasha in the last one month.

Last month, a coxswain in Lake Naivasha hanged himself in a cell in Karagita police post hours after he had been arrested for assaulting his wife and son.

In the latest incident, the woman used a scarf which she tied to a grill in the cell where she was alone.

A relative who declined to be named said they had visited the cell where they found the woman hanging.

He said they were still in shock as the offence the deceased was arrested for was minor. They are now waiting for police to finish their investigations.

“The mother of two was arrested for selling chang’aa and we expected her to be arraigned in court on Monday only to receive a call that she had committed suicide,” he said.

And in another incident, a motorcycle operator was hit and killed by a speeding matatu near Kinungi, along the Nairobi-Nakuru highway. He died on the spot, while the vehicle was extensively damaged.

The incident came barely two days after another rider and his passenger was run over by a lorry near Marula farm on the same road.

According to James Kabono from Naivasha Road Safety Group, the deceased joined the highway without checking, leading to the fatal accident.

He expressed his concern over rising cases of accidents involving motorcycle operators noting that at least 10 youths had been killed along the highway this year

Naivasha police boss Samuel Waweru confirmed both incidents adding that the bodies had been taken to Naivasha mortuary.

“In the suicide case we have opened an inquest file though initial investigations indicate that the woman committed suicide using her scarf,” he said.