Concerns have been raised in Kirinyaga after four men committed suicide in three days. This is the highest number of suicides in such a short period ever witnessed in Kirinyaga or any other county around the country. Residents have been left worried about what is happening.
Martin Macharia Kaguru from the Ngugu-in area of Ndia, Kirinyaga, woke up over the weekend, went to the shop, bought and new robe, and hanged himself. He was 38 years old. His wife also similarly took her life in 2013. Neighbors say he did not seem stressed at all.
Stephen Muchiri, a 60-year-old man, from the same county, told his wife that he was taking his cows to graze. A few hours later, he was found hanging in a toilet at a private school. He took his life using a robe belonging to one of his cows. Nobody knows why did that.
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On Saturday alone, a 50-year-old man committed suicide in Kirinyaga Central’s Githioro Village while another 47-year-old hanged himself in Mururu-in Village, same county. Authorities say there might be many other cases within the county that have gone unreported.
There is growing alarm in Kenya over a shocking rise in the number of suicides in the country. Almost 500 people are reported to have died by suicide in the three months to June 2021, more than the whole of 2020, according to the Kenyan police. So far this year, the figures are equally shocking.
The youngest person to take their life was nine years old; the oldest was 76. The 483 deaths recorded during the period were a marked increase on the annual average of 320 cases, the Ministry of Health reported in 2021. The largest number of deaths and attempts is in men.
Depression and mental health among men have been said to be the major causes of suicides in Kenya. Most suicides happen in Central Kenya.
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