A trader in Maragua, Murang'a County, allegedly drowned herself in a well on Tuesday night, January 26, after receiving numerous demand letters from a local bank over Ksh200,000 debt she owed the institution.
Reports indicated that the deceased identified only as Carol, had constantly complained about her struggles settling the outstanding loan, money she reportedly took to finance her business.
The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic is said to have affected her business which was on the verge of collapse after most of the money she had borrowed went into running the loss-making venture.
She had reportedly defaulted her loan for an entire five months something that piled pressure on her. On the fateful night, she allegedly informed her sister, who was her roommate, that she had gone to attend an impromptu business meeting with a neighbour.
According to the sister, this was not the first time Carol had stepped out for night meetings, hence this did not seem suspicious.
"Since it was not the first time she was announcing such impromptu meetings, I had no reason to be suspicious," the sister said.
The body was discovered floating inside the well by one of the tenants who had gone to draw water.
The reports were confirmed by Ichagaki Deputy County Commissioner Joshua Okello who noted that investigations had been launched to ascertain the cause of death.
"The preliminary suspicion is that she committed suicide. But you can never be too sure in the absence of a medical report based on a conclusive situational analysis," Okello said.
Many Kenyans opt to take their own life after they are driven to the edge by aggressive creditors.
According to data from the Central Bank of Kenya, the proportion of defaulted bank loans in 2019 registered an outstanding amount of Ksh366 billion. This reflected the cash flow burden by business and workers to settle debts.
Speaking to Kenyans.co.ke in a past interview, Dr Mucheru Wang’ombe noted that the trend mainly falls on the youth.
She urged family members to always show support to one another by listening to each other's woes without being judgemental or dismissive.
She also noted that paying attention to signs such as increased drug abuse and alcohol, aggressive behaviour, dramatic mood swings and withdrawing away from family, might be key to preventing such cases from occurring.
