This archive report was first published on 7 August 2019.
On Monday, a seven-year-old boy from Kiangwenji village in Gichugu Constituency, Kirinyaga County, tragically took his own life.
The incident occurred after the boy's sister denied him the chance to use marking pencils, which his mother had bought for him during the school holidays.
According to the boy's mother, Jerusha Wanjiku, the standard three learner hanged himself on an electricity pole.
Wanjiku explained that she had bought the pencils for her son to use during the holidays, but his sister had put them away while cleaning the house.
The sister claimed that the brother was angry, but she did not know he would take such drastic action because she had asked him to wait for her to finish her chores.
‘I was shocked when our elder brother started calling out that he had committed suicide,’ the sister was quoted as saying.
The family's patriarch, Mr. Simon Maina, was in a nearby Kangaita village when the incident occurred and was shocked by his son's suicide.
The family faced a difficult time convincing officers at Kerugoya Police Station that the boy had committed suicide, but investigations have since been launched.
