Allegation of Maseno School student suicide puzzles father

Maseno School

Crime scene tape. Police are probing an alleged suicide involving a Form Three student at Maseno School.

Photo credit: File I Nation Media Group

A family in Vihiga County was yesterday still in shock after their 18-year-old son was reported to have died after jumping from the second floor of a dormitory at Maseno School on Friday.

Mr Caleb Ingolo described his son as a jovial person who had not shown any signs of stress that could have driven him to commit suicide.

The Form Three student is alleged to have jumped through the window, plunging to death at 4.30am.

The matter was reported by students sleeping on the ground floor who heard a thud.

“All we want is investigations to establish what could have happened to our son. We all know death is inevitable, but there are many unanswered questions surrounding the death of my son,” said Mr Ingolo.

He said the family had no plans to sue the school management for the death but added that the explanation he got from the institution about what happened was not convincing.

“I don’t know why my son would want to commit suicide. He did not complain to us of or about anything bothering him. When he came for the holidays, he was jovial and cheeky as is his nature,” said Mr Ingolo.

Postmortem

The family from Emuhaya sub-county is waiting for a postmortem to be conducted on Tuesday to establish the cause of death.

Mr Ingolo explained that when he visited his son’s dormitory, he did not see anything suspicious. He said his son’s bed was well spread, with his suitcase well placed at the furthest end. He said he was surprised when he was shown a note that his son allegedly wrote and left behind.

“We are not planning to sue anyone as nothing can bring him back to life, but knowing the circumstances surrounding his death may give us some closure,” said Mr Ingolo.

Mr Ingolo said he received a distress call at 4.30 am on Friday asking him to rush to school.

When he arrived, he was informed by the deputy principal that his son had jumped from the second floor of his dormitory, through the window and plunged to the ground.

He was told his son had been rushed to Coptic Hospital.

When he got to the hospital, he found his son had been put on oxygen as medics tried to save his life.

As his condition worsened, he was transferred to Aga Khan Hospital, Kisumu, but was pronounced dead on arrival.

“The doctors informed us that my son had died 20 minutes earlier, the reason behind his death is still unknown," he said.

Investigations

Kisumu West police boss David Nyabuto said the deceased left behind a note in a locker belonging to one of his classmates.

In the note, the learner allegedly asked the classmate to take good care of his belongings.

"The matter was reported to us by the school at 9.30 am with allegations that the student had killed himself,” said Mr Nyabuto.

He said investigations into the matter were underway and detectives had visited the school to gather more information.