Father of two commits suicide over fear of going to jail

Residents of Nyamathi in Naivasha were treated to a bizarre incident after a father of two committed suicide for fear of going to jail.

The man took his life by hanging himself after he was served with a court summons over a road accident case in which he had hit a pedestrian a couple of months ago.

In a suicide note, the driver who had not even been charged in court said that he could not cope with jail life and thus had to commit suicide.

One of the local leaders Raphael Kinyanjui said that problem started when the middle aged man was served with the court summons.

Kinyanjui added that the deceased panicked and did not consult his friends before deciding to commit suicide from a nearby tree.

“He had been summoned in court over a case in which he hit and seriously injured a pedestrian but he decided to commit suicide to avoid a jail term,” he said.

Police later moved in and collected the body as an inquest file was opened up as part of investigations.

Meanwhile, a motorcycle operator and his passenger were over the weekend crushed to death by Nissan matatu along the Nairobi-Nakuru highway.

A second passenger escaped death narrowly following the accident near Delamere shop in Naivasha while passengers in the ill-fated matatu walked away unscathed.

The accident occurred after the motorcycle operator who was ferrying two passengers tried to join the main highway from the side road.

According to a witness Salome Njeri, the motorcycle was in high speed and heading towards Nakuru from Naivasha when the incident occurred.

Njeri said that the operator joined the highway without checking if there were any incoming vehicles and in the process was crushed by the Nissan matatu.

“The matatu was also heading in the same direction and hit the motorcycle from the rear before running over the two and killing them on the spot,” she said.

She added that the second passenger escaped without any injuries adding that the incident caused a major traffic jam on the highway.

A senior police officer who confirmed the incident said that the bodies had since been collected and taken to the Naivasha mortuary.

“The mangled wrecks of the matatu and the motorcycle have been towed to Naivasha police station while the driver has recorded a statement with us,” said the officer.