Woman Commit suicide directs to buried same grave with sister and without coffin

Nanyuki 

Friday, October 6, 2023

KNA by Muturi Mwangi

Residents of Muuruga village in Katheri location, in Buuri West sub county, Meru County, were on Thursday left in shock and disbelief after a woman committed suicide wishing to be buried together with her deceased sister.

Irene Makandi , aged 30 years hanged himself outside their homestead and left a suicide note directing them to be buried same grave as her deceased sister Fridah Karuirwa who had died after an illness at the Nanyuki Teaching and Referral Hospital on Saturday last week.

Area Chief Nicholas Mugambi said that the village was engulfed by grief following the untimely demise of two sisters from the same family.

The chief said that the deceased who was the third born in the family of Willson Gitonga, a Nyumba Kumi village elder, also directed that her sister's burial which was set for Thursday, shouldn’t be postponed but to continue as planned. Karuirwa was the firstborn.

“We are sad over the incident, residents had gathered here to plan for the final rites of the elder sister whose burial was set for today (Thursday). The woman who killed herself left a note indicating that she should be interred in the same grave with her sister,” revealed the chief.

The deceased at the same time directed to be interred in the same clothes she wore and no coffin, a situation that left locals speaking in hush tones amid the grief. ‘We decided with the bereaved family to fulfill her wishes and that is when we started the preparations to bury her since her body remains were under police custody,” said Mugambi.

However, the administrator noted that, together with the family of the deceased, they decided to bury her in a coffin but fulfilled her other wishes of being buried together with her sister.

Makandi served as treasurer of the committee in charge of preparing her sister’s final rites but on Wednesday evening, she handed over her duties to a neighbor and at the same time gave out the contacts of her husband who lived in Nairobi to be directed to their home for the burial yesterday.

She was buried at about 6.40 pm, moments after her sister was lowered to the grave since the African Independent Pentecostal Church of Africa (AIPCA) church said it couldn't conduct final rites to self-killed persons.

Kiogora Karia, a resident said that they were only prepared to bury Karuirwa but with that suicide incident,they interred them the same day.

He encouraged young people to involve themselves in economic generating activities to prevent them from bad thoughts that could lead them to the trap of committing heinous acts.

Robert Mugambi, a youth, urged parents to counsel and guide young people on how to address their problems without taking their own lives.

Pastor Simon Gatimu called on young people to speak out whenever they encounter challenges of life adding: “We were very shocked by the incident; however, I would like to ask young people to seek help instead of killing themselves, especially from older people. Silence is not the solution,” Gatimu said.

Meanwhile, according to World Health Organization (WHO) data, there are about four cases of suicide deaths per day in Kenya that are associated with depression and anxiety disorder.

However, Kenya and other low-income and middle-income countries have scanty information about suicides due to poor reporting systems on suicide mortalities.

Further, over 700,000 people commit suicide globally, which translates to one suicide in 40 seconds.

Ministry of Health in its suicide prevention strategy 2021 to 2026, targets to reduce the mortalities attributed to mental illness by 10 percent before 2026.

Courtesy; KNA