Form One student kills self in Kilifi after school suspension

Hilda Kimathi, 15, was last week suspended from school after she was involved in a fight with her schoolmate.

When the Form One student from Franz Jospeh Secondary School in Kwale County got home and narrated to her father Martin Kimathi what had happened, he decided to take her back to school to settle the matter.

“But when Martin got to the school accompanying his child, the administration refused to take her back and ordered the father to go back today (Thursday) to settle the indiscipline case,” said Harriet Kanamuu, the girl’s aunt.

LEFT AT HOME

Mr Kimathi took her second born child back home in Mtwapa, Kilifi County to wait for the suspension period to end before taking her back to school.

On Wednesday, Mr Kimathi, together with his wife Margaret Gakii, left their daughter alone and headed for work.

Mr Kimathi told his daughter to prepare to report back to school on Thursday.

At around 6pm, the mother was the first one to get back home from her place of work in Mtwapa town.

She was forced to use her keys to open the door when she could not hear any response after she had knocked several times.

NO REPLY

“She called out her name but no reply was forthcoming and upon checking in the house, she found the body of her daughter dangling from the roof of their bathroom,” said Ms Kanamuu.

Hilda had hanged herself using a bedsheet.

Kilifi South Sub-County Police Commander Esau Ochorokodi said when her father got home he quickly removed the body from where it was hanging.

“The father had been called by the wife and when he got home he thought the daughter could still be alive. He removed the body and put it on the sofa set to try save her but learnt that she had already passed away,” said Mr Ochorokodi.

MOTHER DISTRAUGHT

When the Nation visited their home, Hilda’s mother wept uncontrollably and even passed out.

She could not come to terms with the death of her daughter whom neighbours said she loved a lot.

Relatives who converged at the home to mourn the death of the girl helped Ms Gakii who then regained consciousness.

Mr Ochorokodi said they believe the girl could have taken her life because of the suspension which had put her under pressure.

“We understand that the schools have their own processes of dealing with indiscipline cases but I would urge them to consider not to put the children under pressure. We need to take good care of our children,” he said.

He added that they have also initiated further investigations to establish whether there could be other reasons that pushed the girl to commit suicide.

Hilda’s body was taken to the Coast Provincial General Hospital mortuary as the family makes burial arrangements.