Form Four girl from Kiambu commits suicide at home

KIAMBU: An 18-year-old girl has committed suicide after allegedly being denied permission to attend a gospel concert in Ndumberi town, Kiambu County.

The body of Mary Njeri, a Form Four candidate at PCEA Township Githunguri High School, was found by her mother hanging from a tree.

Neighbours said the girl picked a quarrel with her mother after she barred her from going to a concert where renowned Kikuyu gospel musician Ben Githae was launching a new album, and celebrating 20 years of his music career.

The girl’s mother, Njambi Nduta, however, refuted claims that her daughter committed suicide over the concert.

STARTED CRYING

“On Saturday, we had agreed with her that I would go to a function with a neighbour’s daughter, and leave her to babysit her one-year-old sister. I was to come back by 3pm,” she said.

The mother said she left home at around 9am to see her sick uncle and when she returned, she found Ms Njeri in a foul mood.

“I was in the main house and she was in the kitchen lighting a fire. When I asked her to wipe the tables, she started crying for no reason,” she added.

She then left the house in a huff and did not respond as her mother called out her name. The mother thought she had gone to a neighbour’s house, but on searching she was nowhere.

Nduta said as she was going to the toilet, she saw her daughter hanging from a tree and thought she was playing games.

DISTRESS CALL

On approaching the tree, it is then she realised she had a rope around her neck.

Neighbours responded to her distress call and assisted her in rushing the girl to Githunguri Health Centre where she was pronounced dead on arrival.

She said her daughter could have committed suicide over a text message or phone call she received.

“I was not even aware that she had a phone. I realised she had one when I heard it ring at the hospital,” she said.

She said she could not understand the message as it was written in short form.

The police have since seized the phone. Njambi, a single mother of four, said her daughter had a promising future, she wanted to be a DJ and was already hunting for colleges even before sitting her national exams.

“She called herself “ Supergal Jermah,” she said.