DEADLY FALL

Police launch probe after student falls to death from Kiambu building

Detectives are questioning five people who were with the deceased woman

In Summary
  • The suspects are currently being held at Karuri Police Station as detectives continue with investigations.
  • The suspects who are her friends were taken to court and police were allowed to detain them for ten days pending probe.
The late Cathrene Njeri who died on May 21, 2023 in Kiambu after a fall.
The late Cathrene Njeri who died on May 21, 2023 in Kiambu after a fall.

Police are investigating an incident in which a woman died after falling from the eighth floor of a building in Gacharage village, Kiambu County.

Detectives are questioning five people who were with the deceased woman identified as Catherine Njeri, at the time of the tragic incident.

She was a student at the Kenya Institute of Management.

She had visited her friend for a party at their apartment last Sunday before tragedy struck while she was on the rooftop with the friend’s boyfriend.

The suspects are currently being held at Karuri Police Station as detectives continue with investigations.

The suspects who are her friends were taken to court and police were allowed to detain them for ten days pending probe.

“The police have initiated a probe into the circumstances surrounding Catherine Njeri’s death."

"The suspects will provide statements and cooperate fully with our detectives to help uncover the truth,” Kiambaa Deputy County Commissioner Peter Maina told the media on Tuesday.

The tenants of the building recounted the moment when they heard a loud bang that drew their attention.

“We rushed out to see what was happening, and we were shocked to see it was a woman’s body,” said one tenant.

The body was moved to Kihara Level 4 Hospital mortuary, where a detailed autopsy will be conducted.

Witnesses said the deceased was visiting her friends and they were about eight of them in that apartment.

At around 9:30 pm, Njeri left the house in the company of her friend’s boyfriend and went to the rooftop where there is a pavilion.

She had apparently gone to the balcony with a man and a struggle ensued while there before she fell off.

The other tenants rushed to the house and woke up those who were there and they appeared unaware she had fallen and died.

It is not clear what transpired as she was on the balcony leading to the fall.

This is the latest such incident to happen in the recent past.

In February 2023, a 29-year-old woman, identified as Brenda Kawira Gitonga, plunged to her death from the fourth floor of her apartment in Kasarani.

The incident happened after the woman had an argument with her boyfriend, who has since provided a chilling account of the events of that day.

According to the boyfriend, the deceased suddenly stormed the room and went to the balcony.

Only later, he says, he realised that her girlfriend had fallen to her death.

The case was regarded as suicide.

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