Tragedy has struck two separate families after their sons used their fathers’ pistols to shoot themselves dead in Nairobi.
Police said the victims, aged 19 and 13, died in their parents’ houses in Gigiri and Ruai respectively.
The first incident happened on Friday evening when a 19-year-old son to businessman Robert Kiriago picked his gun and shot himself in the head.
The teenager’s body was found in a pool of blood in his father’s bedroom long after neighbours heard a gunshot in the vicinity.
He had locked himself in the bedroom, accessed the safe where the pistol was and used it to shoot himself.
Police who broke into the room said the boy shot himself in the head from the left side even though he was right-handed.
The motive of the incident is yet to be established. The pistol was taken away by police for tests and analysis.
Kiriago is a licensed gun holder and he with other members of the family were away at the time of the incident.
The body was moved to the mortuary pending autopsy and probe.
The second incident happened Sunday October 2, when a 13-year-old son of North Eastern deputy police chief Patrick Macharia died after shooting himself using his father's pistol.
The deceased took a Jericho pistol from a table at his father's Ruai home before locking himself inside his bedroom.
The boy found the gun unattended after Macharia left it on the table and went for a short call as he prepared to leave for work.
When he came back, he found the pistol missing and inquired from the wife where it was before he learnt that the boy had locked himself in the bedroom with it.
Macharia told police it was then that he heard a gunshot from his son's bedroom.
The minor shot himself on the left side of the head and the bullet exited from the right side. His body was found lying on the bed after the father broke into the room.
Police said the motive of the shooting remains unkown.
Detectives who visited the scene moved the body to the mortuary pending an autopsy.
Police said they seized the gun along with 29 rounds of ammunition and one spent cartridge, pending further investigations.
These are the latest cases of suicide to be reported in the country in recent days.
According to a report by Kenya’s Ministry of Health, one in every 10 Kenyans suffers a mental disorder.
The 2020 Taskforce on Mental Health called for more funding for mental health facilities and recommended that “mental illness should be declared a national emergency of epidemic proportions, to prioritise mental health as a priority public health and socioeconomic agenda.
