A 42-year-old man identified as Joseph Kimathi was found dead in his house in Ruguti Village, Igambang’ombe sub-county, after hanging himself over claims that his wife was cheating on him.
According to his mother, Kimathi and his wife Regina Kawira had not been on good terms, and it had taken the efforts of family members to settle their conflicts on previous occasions.
On Saturday, 24 September 2022, a day before the fateful incident, the mother explained that the couple had spent the day at Itugururu Market, where Kimathi operated a barber shop, but seemed to be on bad terms.
Upon arriving home with one of his kids, Kimathi asked his mother whether her phone had enough airtime to enable him to call his wife, saying she had not been at their business and he did not know of her whereabouts since she was not picking up his calls.
“Upon the request to use my phone to contact his wife, I quickly belittled the idea since there was no point in containing her, yet she was not responding. I told my son that I was already fed up with their issues,” she said.
The kids would later prepare supper and proceeded to sleep, with one child staying with the father while the other slept in the grandmother’s house.
At 3 am on Sunday, the granny said she was woken up by one of the children who reported that their father was threatening to commit suicide, matters which the granny didn’t take seriously and asked the kid not to worry since their father would not commit such an act.
The granny would be woken up again by the kid, who at this time was in tears and decided to call her other son Joseph Murithi to check on his brother.
Murithi would then, in the company of their cousin Muriuki, make his way to Kimathi’s house only to find he had hung himself.
“At around 3 am, I was called by our mother, who requested that I check up on our brother Kimathi. I called our cousin Muriuki, and we made our way to Kimathi’s house where we found he had already hung himself,” Murithi said.
The two cut him loose and rushed to inform the local authorities and police, who responded immediately and rushed to the scene.
In his suicide note, Kimathi blamed his action on his wife’s extramarital affairs. He however asked that she returns to their marital home and take care of their children.
He also asked his relatives to ensure that his wife continues taking care of his children and see that school fees for his son, Munene, are fully paid.
“I am dead because of Mama Munene. This home is still hers and let her not be victimized by anyone. She has been mistreating me for other men but let her raise Munene and Tatiana without any disturbance or victimization. Let her continue raising our kids from our marital home. She remains my wife even in death,” part of the letter read.
The deceased further asked that it be read during his burial ceremony and his body has since been moved to Chuka Level 4 Hospital.
