Tragedy Strikes as From Two Student Commits Suicide in Bungoma Country
After her parents scolded her for refusing to return to school, Joan Wekesa, a form two pupil at Naburerya Secondary School, committed suicide on Monday. She hanged herself in a house that was rented by her boyfriend in Kabula Market.
Nadine Hosny 
The mother, Praxidese Wekesa went to the market where the girl had gone the night before, scolded her and informed her that she must go back to school.
“I was told by a neighbour that Joan had spent a night with a man who works at a local concrete making company but when I came and questioned her she looked at me and kept quiet,” the mother told Citizen Tv Kenya.
Mrs. Wekesa informed Citizen Tv that she left her daughter, returned home and notified her father, but when they returned, her body was hung from a rope in the house. According to her mother, the girl suddenly refused to go to school and threatened to commit suicide if they continued to harass her about the subject.
The incident on Monday morning shocked neighbours and local residents.They referred to her as a humble and hardworking girl who respected everyone. Joan’s body was taken to Bungoma hospital mortuary.
Suicide rates in Kenya have skyrocketed in the last few months according to an article published by People Daily News in July 2021. At the time the article was published, at least 483 people committed suicide from April to July 2021 with Kiambu County topping the list with the highest numbers.
The numbers show a drastic increase, compared to the 196 suicide cases were reported in 2019 according to the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS).
