Woman in Nyeri kills children before committing suicide

A woman drowned her two children in a water tank before taking her own life at Gakawa village in Kieni, Nyeri County.

Joyce Wangui, 45, allegedly drowned the two children – Joseph Ngatia, 4, and Mary Gakii aged 10 months – before hanging herself.

The bodies were discovered by the deceased’s eldest son Ibrahim Nderitu, 17.

Kieni OCPD Michael Mbaluku said police recovered a handwritten suicide note which indicated she took the decision due to poverty.

“The note claimed that she faced a myriad of problems and that she had nobody to turn to,” said Mr Mbaluku.

The officer added that the suicide note further instructed her neighbours to bury her body and that of her two children as their last respects to her, or if they were not ready, leave the bodies to decompose in the house.

Appeared depressed

“We suspect the incident occurred late in the evening, but it was only reported at night at around 8.30pm,” said Mbaluku.

The woman’s eldest son, who is a Form Three student at the nearby Gakawa Secondary School, discovered his mother’s body dangling from the roof.

After ransacking the house, the teenager found bodies of his siblings stuffed in the water tank in the house.

Nderitu reported the matter to the local chief, who later called the police.

Mbaluku said the bodies were taken to Nanyuki Teaching and Referral Hospital mortuary for a post-mortem examination and preservation.

Neighbours who sought anonymity said the woman appeared depressed and withdrawn.

“It was very rare for her to engage neighbours in a conversation and it was hard to tell whether she faced problems of such magnitude, which could lead her to kill her children and commit suicide,” said a neighbour.