Residents of Umoja Estate on Saturday, April 4, woke up to a shocking incident after a man committed suicide in one of the apartments.
The man, who is suspected to have hanged himself, was found with a towel around his neck.
"He was found kneeling dead in his sitting room. The caretaker called me and due to Covid-19, we opted to report the matter to the police and keep people off the scene," a source told Kenyans.co.ke.
Though the reason behind the decision to take his own life is yet to be known, the man is believed to have had an argument with the house agents on Friday evening, April 3, over rent arrears.
The incident comes at a time when Kenyans have voiced their anxieties over the rent situation, particularly low-income earners who are out of work as a result of the crisis.
On Wednesday, April 1, the Landlords and Tenants Association of Kenya (LATAK) called for landlords across the country to offer their tenants rent waivers for the months of April, May and June.
LATAK wanted the measures implemented as soon as possible as part of the country's response to the Covid-19 pandemic.
In addition, they requested the government to order a 6-month moratorium on bank loans currently being serviced by landlords.
WHO reports that 800,000 people kill themselves yearly worldwide, which means that 1 person commits suicide every 40 seconds!
Even more shocking is the fact that suicide has been singled out as the second leading cause of death among 15- to 29-year-olds.
While cases of suicide are poorly recorded in Kenya, the upsurge in the coverage of suicide-related deaths is an important indicator of the urgency with which resources ought to be deployed to reduce these otherwise preventable deaths.
