Man strangles girlfriend, commits suicide over love triangle

Shock engulfed Kimeswon village, in Kuresoi North after a 19-year-old man killed his girlfriend, then committed suicide in a love gone sour.

Family members and villagers woke to the shocking news yesterday morning after the two picked a quarrel.

James Sang, a neighbour said Peter Lang’at picked up a quarrel after he suspected the girlfriend, Mercy Chepkurui was cheating on him with her estranged lovers, despite having promised to marry and set up a family by next month.

Lang’at, a former student at Sachangwan secondary school had invited Chepkurui to his parents’ home, where they had stayed together for three days before the death.

“The man was angered after he allegedly discovered his girlfriend whom he had promised to marry was having other lovers. He strangled and later killed himself,” said Sang.

A neighbour said he was attracted to the house the two were after he heard commotion and was shocked to stumble on the body of Chepkurui lying near the door of the house while Lang'at's body was dangling from one of the roof's rafters.

He said Chepkurui was a house-help in Mogotio town, Baringo County before traveling to meet the lover whom they have dated for approximately one year.

A damaged mobile phone was recovered adjacent to the body of the girl, believed to have been tempered with by the man during the altercation.

A suicide note believed to have been written by the man was also recovered at the scene saying that on an undisclosed date, the girl tried to poison him over unclear reason.

According to the note, Chepkurui allegedly placed poison in food that she served the man, but fortunately, he did not consume it. 

Police took the bodies to Molo Sub-County Hospital morgue for autopsy.

Kuresoi OCPD Hesbon Kadenge said the matter is under investigations.

“We have launched investigations on the crime, as we conduct autopsy,” said Kadenge.

Cases of individuals killing their lovers and relatives in the rift region are on the rise.

On Sunday last week, a man killed his wife, then committed suicide at their Keringet home in Kuresoi South over love gone sour.

Bernard Maritim, 32, a casual labourer in Nakuru town slit Sharon Kipkoech's throat with a kitchen knife before hanging himself.

Neighbours said Maritim had quarrelled with his 28-year-old wife, a teacher at St Joseph Kirandich Secondary School, though it was not immediately clear what the fight was about.

The incident happened at the watch of the couple’s three-year-old boy.

In January, a man also battered her wife in Kapchepkut village, Mogotio sub-county following domestic dispute.

In another incident reported in November last year, a police Constable who was based at Piave Patrol Base in Njoro killed his wife before shooting himself dead.

The officer used the G3 gun he had been assigned.