A family in Kiangwenji village, Gichugu Constituency in Kirinyaga County has been left in shock following the death of a minor by suicide.
The seven-year-old boy reportedly took his own life on Monday after his elder sister denied him a chance to use marking pencils. The boy’s mother, Jerusha Wanjiku, said the standard three learner hanged himself on an electricity pole.
Wanjiku told Citizen Digital that she had bought the boy the pencils to use over the school holidays but his sister put them away while she was cleaning the house.
The sister said that the brother was angry but she did not know he would kill himself because she had asked him to wait for her to finish her chores.
“I was shocked when our elder brother started calling out that he had committed suicide,” she was quoted as saying.
The family’s patriarch Mr Simon Maina said he was in a nearby Kangaita village when the incident happened and was shocked by his son’s suicide.
The bereaved family also noted they had a difficult time convincing officers at Kerugoya Police Station that the boy had committed suicide. Investigations have since been launched.
