- The deceased had been charged for defilement and convicted to life imprisonment, a sentence that commenced on June 6.
- Police want to establish how he got the rope given the checks that are in place there.
Image: The Star
A prisoner serving life imprisonment for defilement died by suicide at the Kamiti Maximum Prisons on Tuesday.
Officials reported the body of the inmate identified as Robert Obul Magero was found hanging from the cell window grill long after he had died.
He apparently used a rope to hang himself. Police want to establish how he got the rope given the checks that are in place there.
An officer at the facility Joseph Kioko said the deceased had been charged before a principal magistrates court in Kericho for defilement and convicted to life imprisonment, a sentence that commenced on June 6.
The body was moved to the Kiambu mortuary pending autopsy and probe.
Police said an investigation has been opened.
Meanwhile, a woman aged 80 died by suicide after jumping into a 50-feet borehole in a village in Nyamira county.
The family told police Maritina Ochenge jumped into the borehole on Tuesday afternoon, without provocation.
They said efforts to save her did not bear fruits.
The incident happened at Nyaibara Ibere village.
The body was later removed and taken to a local mortuary.
Police said they are investigating claims that she jumped into the borehole that was in use.
In a separate incident in Nyabite, Nyamira, the body of Peter Kamanda, 21, was discovered at his grandmother’s house.
Police who visited the scene said the deceased was found hanging from the window grill with a sisal rope tied loosely round his neck.
His neck was also seen with strangulation marks and is suspected to have been killed elsewhere before being staged there.
Police said the Tuesday incident is under probe.
Cases of suicide have been on the rise amid calls to address the trend.
A report by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations said at least 500 people committed suicide in separate incidents between March to June.