Alarm over rising cases of suicide among minors in Naivasha

Naivasha Gender Based Violence (GBV) cluster group has raised the alarm over rising cases of suicide among minors.

The group said that so far, more than ten minors have died by suicide this year, with cases attributed to family disputes and harassment in schools.

Last week, a 10-year-old boy took his life in Ndabibi using a rope hours before schools reopened, under unclear circumstances.

Early in the year, a Form Two student who had been suspended from school died by suicide outside the parents home to protest the decision to take her back to the same school.

Naivasha GBV cluster group chairperson John Kinuthia, said more than 40 people have died by suicide in the region since the year began.

He regretted that unlike in the past, where adults were taking their lives, minors had joined in raising fear among parents.

“We have seen a spike in the number of incidents where both primary and secondary school students are taking their lives and this trend is worrying,” he said.

Kinuthiae revealed that initial investigations by the Cluster group identified school or family-related issues as the cause of deaths.

“We are concerned by the rising number of suicides, mainly among the youths and we have launched a campaign where we are encouraging them to speak out,” he said.

This came as police launched investigations into the death of a prison warder whose body was found hanging from a tree in Marula area off the Nairobi-Nakuru highway.

Police suspect the officer attached to Naivasha Medium Prison died by suicide a couple of days ago after he failed to report to duty.

Naivasha DCIO Isaac Kiama said that they were not ruling out foul play as there were many unanswered questions in the matter.

“The officer was last seen in his home three days ago, he had not reported on duty and we want to establish where he was all this time yet no report had been made,” he said.

Kiama said that the body was removed to the mortuary and an inquest file opened.