Kericho man commits suicide after losing sports bet

The decomposing body of 32-year-old man Kennedy Rotich who went missing a week ago was found dangling from a tree in Samburet forest near Satellite area, 15 Kms from Brooke trading centre, Kericho County.

Confirming the incident, Kericho acting Officer Commanding Police Division Nathan Sanya said the deceased had been reported missing at the Chagaik Police Patrol base for the last seven days and search parties dispersed to find him.

“Locals participating in a tree planting exercise through the Shamba system spotted the body of the deceased hanging down from a string looped around a branch in a tree in the forest and alerted the police and relatives who positively identified the deceased whose body was in a state of decomposition,” said Sanya.

He added that preliminary investigation revealed that the body of the deceased had been on the scene for five days after he was reported missing.

“The police did not find a suicide note on the deceased and we have launched investigation to establish what could have triggered the suicide or whether there was some foul play by a known or unknown person,” said Sanya.

The police took the body to Kericho county hospital mortuary for preservation and post-mortem. Nonetheless, the deceased’s friend and neighbour Vincent Simotwo, claimed that Rotich had fallen into debt and owed several people money and could have resorted to suicide to avoid his debtors.

Funeral arrangements

“The deceased was a former caretaker of a block of houses near Brooke trading centre bus stage and one of the prospective tenants whom he had taken some money from but failed to allocate him a house was pressing him for a refund and had reported the matter to local police post, something that distressed the deceased,” he said.

Simotwo added that the deceased’s problems were compounded by the fact that he (Rotich) had resorted to engaging in the local sports gambling craze, only for the chances of winning to prove slim.

“My friend had resorted to betting, with the hope that he would win the jackpot and use the windfall to settle his debts, only to lose most of his money and slide into depression,” said Simotwo.

Nonetheless, the deceased’s father Augustine Mutai, said that although his son had not confided in him that he was facing financial problem, he had accepted the young man’s death and asked for space for the family to make funeral arrangements.