Rising Suicide Concerns After Fourth Year JKUAT Student Found Dead in His Room

Martin Kamondia Muchene, a fourth-year engineering student at the Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture Technology, was discovered dead in his apartment in Juja.

The body was decomposed, leading authorities to believe he may have died over the weekend. His relatives had been trying to reach him, but he did not respond until they went to check on him on Monday night.

Police discovered Martin’s body leaning against a wall with a nylon rope around his neck, and there were no visible injuries. The cause of death is yet to be determined, pending an autopsy. The university management is waiting for the outcome of the police investigation to establish how Martin died.

In a separate incident, the body of 67-year-old Betty Malanga Mukhwana was found hanging from the rooftop of her pit latrine in Kakamega. The cause of her death is yet to be determined, and her body has been taken to the hospital mortuary for a postmortem.

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According to the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) data, in 2019, 421 people died by suicide, and the number of reported cases of attempted suicide was 2,050. In 2018, there were 421 suicide deaths and 1,410 reported cases of attempted suicide.

It is worth noting that these figures may not reflect the true extent of suicide and attempted suicide in Kenya, as many cases go unreported or misclassified.

The KNBS data also suggests that suicide is more prevalent among men than women, with men accounting for around 75% of suicide deaths. Additionally, the age group most affected by suicide in Kenya is between 20 and 39.

These statistics highlight the need for more robust suicide prevention efforts and mental health services in Kenya to address the rising number of suicide cases in the country.