This archive report was first published on 13 December 2019.
Published on December 13, 2019, a tragic incident unfolded in Kyemole, Makueni Sub-county, where a 57-year-old man, Musyoka Katiku, took his own life in a pond on his farm.
According to a police report, the incident occurred on Thursday at around 6:30 pm, with the man ingesting poison and drowning himself.
Police Commander Timothy Maina revealed that the man also set fire to his house and all his belongings.
It is alleged that the wife, who had defaulted on a loan from a local bank, forced the man to sell a section of his land to settle the debt.
However, the wife took another loan and failed to settle it, prompting the man to refuse to sell his land again to offset the balance.
Efforts to reconcile the couple had been futile, with the wife running away from the matrimonial home three months prior to the incident.
On the day of the incident, the man had attempted to resolve the issue with the area Assistant Chief, but the wife failed to attend the meeting.
The police are still investigating the amount of money the deceased's wife owed the bank.
The tragic incident was witnessed by the man's 9-year-old granddaughter, and his body was later retrieved by the Kenya Red Cross and police.
The remains were taken to the Makueni Referral Hospital mortuary for preservation and post-mortem examination.
