Man hangs himself in church

By Athman Amran

An unidentified man hanged himself inside the Holy Family Basilica in Nairobi on Saturday morning shortly after attending the morning Mass.

The man’s body was discovered hanging from a wire tied to iron grills at the back door of the Church’s store.

He had apparently reached the grills at the top of the door where he tied the wire to hang himself by standing on a trolley used by the church to move around books.

The Church’s catechist Michael Waweru discovered the body at around 9am and the police were called in immediately and the body was taken to the Nairobi City Mortuary.

According to a statement by Waweru, the man entered the church when its doors were opened at around 7.15 am for Mass and also to allow the faithful wash the church and bring flowers.

"At around 9am he (Waweru) called and said that there is somebody who has committed suicide at the store," the statement, which was shown to the press by Father in Charge, Fr Peter Kamau, said.

One of the worshippers Mr Moses Wanjiru said he noticed the man sit at a Church bench where he prayed before moving into the store.

"We heard someone calling ‘We kuja, we kuja. Kujeni lakini msije na polisi (Come, Come, Come but do not come with the police)’’, Mr Wanjiru narrated to The Standard on Sunday.

After the call, silence followed. Worshippers who were arranging flowers in vases at the back of the store did not know that just a few feet away someone was committing suicide.

Fr Kamau said he did not know the man and that no one noticed him enter the store.

"I am not aware of any other incident like this at this church. We have only had incidents where people smash the Church windows and stealing Church items," Fr Kamau said.

The police took away the body at around 10.50 am as some curious worshippers milled around trying to have a glance of the body.

No suicide note was found and the man’s action of taking his life at the Church remains a mystery.