Kirinyaga: 7-year-old boy commits suicide over pencils

A 7-year-old boy is reported to have committed suicide on Monday after his elder sister denied him a chance to use pencils in Kiangwenji village, Gichugu Constituency in Kirinyaga County.

According to his mother Jerusha Wanjiku, the standard three pupil used an electric pole to hang himself.

Speaking to Citizen Digital, Wanjiku narrated how she had bought him the marking pencils to use over the school holidays but his sister put away the marking pencils on the cupboard while she was cleaning.

The deceased’s sister said that he was angry but she did not know he would kill himself because she had asked him to wait for her to finish her chores.

“I was shocked when our elder brother started calling out that he had committed suicide,” she recalled.

His father, Simon Maina, who was in a nearby Kangaita village said he was shocked by his son’s suicide.

The family also noted how they had a difficult time convincing officers at Kerugoya Police Station that the boy had committed suicide and nothing sinister had happened.