The police in Mbita, Homa Bay County are investigating the death of a Kenya Defense Forces (KDF) soldier who is said to have died by suicide on Tuesday.
It was not immediately clear why Corporal Victor Ouma, who is based in Gilgil, Nakuru County, took his life.
The incident happed at Yao in God Jope, Mbita sub-county when Ouma reportedly ingested a substance suspected to be acid.
Ouma, a resident of Kisumu County, is said to have visited a friend when the incident happened. He is said to have died in the home of his friend.
Area assistant chief Fredrick Odero said the 35-year-old soldier had gone to Yao to visit a friend in the company of his stepmother.
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Ouma had been on leave.
“Ouma and his stepmother had gone to visit the family in Yao. A village elder called and informed me that Ouma had died after consuming acid. I went to the scene and confirmed Ouma had indeed died,” Odero said.
Odero said they informed the KDF office in Gilgil of what had happened. “The KDF office in Gilgil sent an officer to verify if the deceased worked with them. The officer confirmed that indeed, Ouma was a KDF soldier,” the administrator said.
There were claims that Ouma was having problems in his marriage.
"He had problems in his marriage but at the moment, we cannot say for sure that it was the cause of the decision to take his life,” said the administrator.
Mbita sub-county police commander Stanley Atavachi said they are investigating the incident even as they await a postmortem.
“We received a report that the officer had committed suicide but we are yet to the evidence of that. We are conducting investigations to establish whether it was murder or suicide,” Atavachi said.
The body was moved MED 25 Kirindo mortuary.
