Student found dead on tree after suspected suicide in Kabete

Detectives are investigating an incident in which a University student was found dead after a suspected suicide in Kabete, Nairobi.

The body of Jonah Kiplangat, 19, was found dangling on a tree with a rope tied to his neck.

Police said the body was found at the university farm on Wednesday evening.

The victim stayed alone in one of the hostels at the institution.

After accessing his room the police said they recovered a suicide note that seemed to be bidding farewell to his parents and clan written in his dialect.

The note was left on the table and explained the reasons for the incident.

Police said they are investigating to establish if he is the one who authored it as part of the probe into the incident.

The body had no visible injuries other than marks around the neck.

Police moved the body to the mortuary pending autopsy and other probe procedures.

Elsewhere in Huruma, one Joseph Adengu, 19, died by suicide.

The body was found in his father’s house long after the incident on Wednesday, police said.

The motive of the incident is yet to be known. The body was moved to the mortuary.

Cases of suicide have been on the rise this year and authorities blame the trend on mental distress.

Police handled 499 cases in 2019, and 575 in 2020.

At least 313 people are reported to have taken their lives between January and July 2021.

The majority of the victims were male, police reports say.

There is a national drive to address the menace.

The World Health Organisation says such cases are attributed to joblessness, the breakup of relationships or a death, academic failures or pressures.

Others are legal difficulties, financial difficulties, bullying, previous suicide attempts, history of suicide in a family, alcoholism and substance misuse, depression and bipolar disorder.

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.