Mystery surrounds the death of an 84-year-old granny in Murang’a who was found dead outside her bathroom where she allegedly ‘hanged’ herself.
Jane Beth Waigwe’s body was discovered by one Daniel Gichuhi who stored some of his farming equipment at her place.
He stated that he had searched for the deceased all over her house but there was no response, prompting him to look for her at her bathroom.
When he got to the bathroom he stumbled upon the silhouette of the deceased prompting him to raise the alarm.
“I was using her house as a storage place for my farming equipment. I went to her house to take them. I found her door locked from the outside. I could not open it. I started looking for her while calling her name,” he said.
“I noticed that the door to the toilet was closed while the door to the bathroom was open, and there was a silhouette.”
Neighbours who arrived at the scene say the body of the deceased had a rope tied to her neck, her knees bent and her feet were still on the floor. At the scene where her body was found, there was no chair nor an object for her to jump from as she attempted to ‘take her life’.
According to the family of the deceased, Waigwe’s walking stick was discovered lying a distance away from where her body was found. The family says their kin was unable to walk without her stick.
The family also revealed that the sim card of the deceased was discovered in the kitchen despite their kin not knowing how to remove a sim card. The phone on the other hand was found in the pit latrine together with her house keys and Ksh700.
This has raised eyebrows amongst members of her family who suspect that her death may have been well-plotted to make it seem like suicide.
“A woman who had no pressures of life because she lacked nothing. There were no debts, no arguments, no threats to her life, and no relationship to push her to the brink. A woman with such peace and comfort just wakes up and decides to hang herself? Not my mother,” Mary Njeri, the daughter of the deceased remarked.
“I want this matter investigated. My grandmother did not hang herself. She was murdered. Not because I have a suspect in mind, but because the scene is suspicious,” Bonny Kamande, a grandchild of the deceased stated.
Waigwe’s neighbour echoed Njeri’s sentiments noting that there was no indication that the old lady was contemplating suicide as she was jovial and chatty with everyone else.
“I am not a mind reader, but there was nothing suicidal about her. I got no indication that she might be preparing to hang herself in the next few hours,” she stated.
The family has now called on the police to investigate the matter further and bring the victim’s perpetrators to book.
Kahuro Sub-county Police Commander Catherine Ringera has assured the aggrieved family that a post-mortem will be conducted on June 14 to help police conclude investigations.
“If there are signs of cruelty to her, beatings, scratches or cuts…If the post-mortem shows that she died from other causes, that will help us to conclude investigations,” she stated.
