Girl, 12, dies by suicide in Naivasha

Noose. [Courtesy]

Residents of Ndabibi, Naivasha, are trying to come to terms with an incident where a 12-year-old girl took her life in the family’s house.

The body of the Grade 5 minor was found hanging in her bedroom by her parents hours after she was left to tend to her younger brother.

There were conflicting reports over the cause of the suicide, with some residents alleging a family dispute and others claiming that there was bullying in school.

The incident comes barely a month after a 13-year-old boy committed suicide in the same village after a fallout with his parents.

Naivasha DCIO Isaac Kiama confirmed the incident, adding that the minor did not leave behind a suicide note and that the parents were in the dark over the motive.

He said that the body was discovered by the parents who were returning home in the evening and who, in turn, called the police.

“We are yet to establish the motive behind the suicide, but the body has been collected and taken to the Naivasha mortuary, awaiting postmortem,” he said.

According to John Kinuthia from Naivasha GBV cluster group, cases of suicides involving minors in Naivasha were on the rise.

He noted that in the last month, two minors had committed suicide and three others had attempted before they were rescued and taken to the hospital.

“We have recorded a worrying trend where school-going minors are taking their lives through the rope, and this is worrying,” he said.

He said that in the latest incident, the girl had been left by her parents to tend to her four-year-old brother when she took her life.

“The parents claim that the girl was in high spirits when they left her in the morning, and they are in the dark over the reason behind the suicide,” he said.

Kinuthia noted that since the year began, over 50 people, including minors, had committed suicide in and around the lakeside town, with depression playing a major role.

“In one of the cases, a just walked to the road and jumped under the wheels of a moving trailer and died on the spot,” he said.

He said that the cluster group had identified informal settlements as the most affected by cases of suicide in the last two years.