Emerging details have revealed the final moments, including an alleged suicide note, of 29-year-old Maureen Wangui from Kirinyaga, who drowned last Saturday after she jumped into river Nyamindi with her 5-year-old daughter, Precious Wairimu, strapped to her back.
Residents of Gichogo village discovered the body of Precious Wairimu on Saturday night while fetching water. Wangui’s body was found by residents of Kamwangi village on Monday evening, ten kilometers from where she drowned.
As the family of the deceased grapples with the heart-wrenching loss, Frida Njoki, Wangui’s grandmother, recounted the events of the fateful Saturday. Wangui had been staying with them for about a week, brought by her father.
“On Saturday morning, I was with Wangui and even gave her soap to wash the child’s clothes before she later disappeared,” Njoki said.
“I didn’t notice her leaving as I entered the kitchen. I went to ask the grandfather if he had seen her, but he hadn’t. I assumed she had gone down to the stream with other ladies as usual.”
Wangui’s grandfather remembered hearing screams and, upon investigating their source, witnessed a woman running downhill, prompting him to pursue her.
“Upon arriving, Wangui’s grandmother was crying out, ‘The child is in the river, the child is in the river,” he recounted.
A watchman guarding the Kainamoi coffee factory witnessed Wangui jumping into the river with her daughter and raised an alarm.
Contents of Suicide Note
Media sources report the discovery of a suicide note, in which Wangui revealed her tragic decision and the heartbreaking reasons for taking her daughter’s life.
“Sitaacha mtoto wangu akiteswa. Where I go I don’t know but I will go with you. If they did not show me love, my child trust me, they will have none for you.
“If I had a little hope that there would be even a little light at the end of the tunnel, I would hang on. But let us give ourselves to the water. Please God forgive me and when I get home, give me love that no one ever showed me,” the note reads, as quoted by the Star newspaper.
Meanwhile, Simon Gichia, also a family member, highlighted the grim reality of River Nyamindi, stating that it has claimed numerous lives over time.
Shockingly, during the search for Wangui’s body, another unidentified male body was discovered.
“When someone drowns in River Nyamindi, seven days can pass before we find it. It is deep and bad, it has robbed the lives of many, it has eaten our children,” Gichia lamented.
