This archive report was first published on 19 October 2019.
On October 13, 2019, a 17-year-old student in Ol Kalou, Kenya, took his own life by hanging himself in a well. The tragic event was preceded by a series of events that led to his downfall.
According to his mother, the student had been sent home from school due to indiscipline. He had been home for a week after he allegedly refused to take revision papers to prepare for the exams.
On October 3, a week before his death, he wrote a long suicide note, which revealed his deep-seated pain and feelings of worthlessness. In the note, he expressed his desire to meet his former love in heaven and apologized to those he had offended.
His mother recalled that he had been 'jokingly' telling a neighbour that he would die before her, and had also told her not to cry hard or his spirit would return to haunt her.
On the day of his death, his mother told him she would accompany him to school the next day as the school administration wanted him to sit for the end of term test. However, he did not answer her and instead took his uniform and washed it before leaving home.
His family was shocked by his death, as he was known to be 'always calm, obedient and did not like an argument'. His brother was also baffled, saying 'I don’t understand why he did it.'
The school principal attributed the student's death to bad spirits, while others cited rejection by the girl as the motive. However, the true reason behind his death remains unclear.
