• Police want to understand the circumstances around the incident and if they can prefer any charges against the legislator.
• The boy accessed the mother's handbag, took the keys to the bedroom and the safe.
Image: FILE
Nominated MP David Sankok was Tuesday grilled by police over alleged suicide of his son using the father’s pistol at their Narok home.
Detectives from the DCI office in Narok visited Sankok at his home and held a brief discussion on the incident.
They recorded his statement because it was his gun that was used in the incident, police said.
They also visited the scene where the 15-year-old boy reportedly shot himself in the chin.
The MP's wife, daughter and workers at the home were also interrogated.
The pistol used by the lawmaker's son to kill himself has since been confiscated for forensic analysis by officers from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations.
Officials aware of the developments said the officers also inspected the safe where the Glock pistol was kept before the boy accessed it and used it to shoot himself.
Police said they wanted to understand the circumstances under which the incident happened and if they could prefer any charges against the legislator.
“There are claims of negligence but when you look into it you find he used a key to open the bedroom and later the safe where it was. Let us wait to see how it materialises,” said an officer aware of the incident.
Another option would be recommending an inquest into the incident.
A licensed firearm holder is supposed to ensure safety of the gun.
Sankok is a licensed gun holder.
Memusi Sankok, 15, shot himself using his father's pistol on Monday afternoon after taking it from a safe in his father's bedroom.
The younger Sankok was a Form 3 student at Kericho High School.
According to the family, the boy was to return to school last week.
The father, who was out of the country, sent pocket money and for shopping.
“He instead disappeared from the home and only returned Sunday. The father also returned home Sunday,” a family friend said.
According to officials, on Monday morning the father summoned the boy for a talk.
The boy reportedly insisted he was tired with school.
But after a lengthy discussion, he gave in and agreed to go back to school on Tuesday accompanied by the father.
“The MP says he then left the homestead and went to his hotel nearby for a political meeting. At around 3pm, the boy accessed the mother's handbag, took the keys to the bedroom and the safe. After opening the safe, he took a Glock pistol and shot himself on the chin, with the bullet exiting through the back head,” a police report said.
Detectives led by Narok head of DCI Mwenda Ethaiba are investigating the incident termed as suicide.
Police say the case will be handled professionally.
Cases of suicide have been on the rise in the country.
The World Health Organization says such cases are attributed to joblessness, death, academic failure or pressures, legal and financial difficulties.
Other reasons are bullying, previous suicide attempts, history of suicide in a family, alcoholism and substance misuse, depression and bipolar disorder.
WHO rates suicide as a serious global public health issue that is among the top 20 leading causes of death worldwide.
Globally, close to 800,000 people die of suicide every year with an estimated 78 per cent of cases occurring in low and middle-income countries.
Kenya ranks position 114 among 175 countries in suicide rates.
Edited by Henry Makori