Men more likely to commit suicide than women in Nyeri

Men in Nyeri County are more likely to take their own lives compared with women, a police report indicates.

Figures based on reported suicide cases so far this year show that a man has an 87.5 per cent chance of killing himself compared with a woman.

The data revealed that 58 people in the county have killed themselves this year. Of those cases, only seven were women while 49 were men.

Police say the number could be higher as many families report suicide cases as natural deaths for fear of being disgraced.

In an interview with the Nation, Nyeri County police commander Eunice Kihiko said although there have been cases of older people taking their own lives, suicide is more prevalent among middle-aged adults.

Another finding is that in most suicide cases, the victims killed themselves by hanging either in their own houses or in farms. Others, however, opt to drown, stab or burn themselves to death.

In one case reported in Tetu in July, a 68-year-old man hanged himself after beating up his wife following a domestic quarrel.

The lifeless body of Luke Ngunjiri was found dangling from a tree on his relative's tea farm, 300 metres from his home. Mr Ngunjiri is believed to have killed himself because he feared that he would be attacked by locals.

SCHOOLCHILDREN

In a more recent case, a 27–year-old man committed suicide last week by jumping into the Hohwe dam in Mathira. The reason for his actions remain unknown but he is said to have called his parents and informed them of his plan to kill himself.

The report also indicates that two schoolchildren took their own lives in the past nine months.

One of the children, a 17-year-old Form Three girl at Gichira Secondary School in Tetu, died after jumping over a 100-foot waterfall in Mururguru last month.

The girl had skipped school but the reason for her suicide are unknown, as both the school administration and relatives said she had not shown any signs of being troubled.

Three other girls from the same school had attempted suicide for unknown reasons. Police say most cases of attempted suicide are never reported.

“People often do not report the matter and opt to handle it internally,” said Ms Kihiko.

She said suicide is prompted by several and usually personal factors. “We cannot give a general cause because each case is different,” she said.

The cumulative number of suicides has, however, dropped from last year by 12 per cent, though police say the number is likely to rise by the end of this year.