10 year old committing suicide?
Perhaps something deeper.
Sad
*from DN
Shock and grief has hit Rititi Village in Nyeri County after a 10-year-old Standard Five pupil at DEB Karatina Primary School committed suicide by hanging himself after allegedly quarrelling with his mother over homework.
Andrew Kuria is said to have taken a rope from their main house on Sunday afternoon and hanged himself on an avocado tree while his mother, Christine Wambui, was busy attending to her daily chores inside the house.
Ms Wambui said she noticed her son had not completed his homework though his school was to reopen the following day.
“As I was cleaning the house, I found out he was only half way done with his homework.
“I called him several times but there was no response.
“But after a while, I went out to check on him only to find his lifeless body dangling on the tree,” said the shocked mother.
THREATENED TO HANG HIMSELF
It also emerged that the boy had earlier talked about his death, having informed his cousins and classmates casually that he would hang himself and they would find him dead one day.
Little did they know that he would soon hang himself.
Distraught relatives, led by the boy’s grandmother Ann Muthoni, said that Kuria, an altar boy at Rititi Catholic Church, had arrived home from church together with his mother and was asked to complete his holiday assignment.
Ms Wambui said that her son obliged and, together with his sister, the two embarked on doing their homework but after a few minutes, Kuria excused himself and walked out and did the unthinkable.
His 64-year old grandmother, who is yet to come to terms with the loss of her grandson, said that the boy had gone to church but had refused to play the role of altar boy as it was his routine.
NOT IN JOVIAL MOOD
“I recall he was not jovial as he used to be on other Sundays and for the first time he declined to play his role as an altar boy, a thing that shocked me.
“However, he only played the drum a little before he joined us for home after Mass,” she said, adding that he looked withdrawn but no one could imagine he would kill himself.
At the scene, his sandals and part of the rope were the only evidence of the grim reality of his demise while in the house his books were intact, just the way he had left them, the family being too traumatised to touch them.
At his former school, teachers and pupils were also coming to terms with the loss of Kuria, whom they described as respectful and promising and who always insisted he would be a pilot.
The school’s headteacher, Vincent Mwangi, said the boy was okay when he left for the August holidays and had not exhibited any signs of stress or anything that would indicate that he would commit suicide.
He, however, admitted that Kuria had at one time threatened to kill himself.
COUNSELLED BY TEACHERS
“Early this year Kuria had threatened to kill himself but was counselled by teachers and he came back to his senses.
“Since then, he has not repeated such threats until Sunday when he actually did it,” said Mr Mwangi.
The headteacher added that everyone in school was shocked after receiving the sad news.
“We are going to conduct counselling sessions for all his classmates since they are the most affected by the bad news,” said Mr Mwangi
Mathira West police boss David Kemboi confirmed the incident, adding the investigations had been launched to establish what drove Kuria to commit suicide.
“We will question his mother and teachers to try (to) establish what really went wrong.
“This is a young boy who committed suicide for a reason,” he said.
Kuria’s body was taken to the Karatina Sub-County Hospital mortuary for a post-mortem examination before his burial.