Grief has engulfed Gathiru village in Kigumo sub county after a 10 year old boy committed suicide on Saturday.
Caleb Mihunyo, a class three pupil at Gatumbi primary school was given a rope to take to his aunt in the nearby village but was later found dangling from a tree in his parent’s farm.
The incident shocked the entire village who describe boy as a disciplined and jovial boy.
His mother Beth Wanjiru said on the fateful day, Mihunyo was with his father and grandmother and had just finished cutting firewood at 5 pm.
She said his grandmother sent him to his aunt who is preparing for a dowry ceremony in the home coming Saturday.
“He just took the rope jovially and ran down our farm on his way to his aunt’s home,” she said.
At around 6.30, a neighbour’s child saw him hanging from the tree and raised a call of alarm with neighbours rushing to save his life.
He was still alive when we found him but was pronounced dead on arrival at a nearby dispensary, she added.
Wanjiru said they do not understand why the boy made the drastic decision to take his life saying he was boy that did not hold grudges and take offence.
The rope, she added, was not tied and was just coiled on his neck and the tree.
“We are thinking maybe he decided to play with the rope thing it would slide off but it did not,” the distraught mother said.
Wanjiru is now appealing for help to bury her son saying she is a casual labourer while her husband is partially disabled.
“We had to borrow money for the burial permit and we don’t know what to do to raise funds for the burial service,” she added.
Evanson Mbuto, a neighbor said such incidents have not been experienced before in the village.
He appealed for help for the family saying expenses such as coffins are too expensive for the family.
“We are trying to help as the community but we may not be able to raise enough. We are praying that such an incident will not happen here again,” Mbuto said.