Why a 36-year-old man from Kuresoi South took his own life after crashing his father's car

After crashing his father’s car along the Molo- Keringet road, Bethwel Kiptoo Kirui, was very devasted, aware of the consequences that would befall him upon discovery of this by his father, made the situation much worse.

So on November 19, the 36 year old, commited suicide.

Residents of Siwot Masiful village in Kuresoi South were stunned to find his body dangling from a tree and immediately contacted the area chief, who reported the matter to the police. 

According to a police report, the incident was reported to police at around 6.40pm on Tuesday. 

"Upon enquiry from the family and neighbours, it was said that the deceased was involved in a self-inflicted road accident while driving his father's car. After sustaining injuries and fearing his father's reaction to the damage to the car, he ran to a nearby maize farm, tore his shirt and hanged himself from the torn shirt on a Cyprus tree," read part of the report. 

The report goes on to say: "The scene was fully processed and the body was taken to the Olenguruone SubCounty Mortuary awaiting post-mortem to determine the cause of death".

According to John Macharia a psychologist such incidents are not new and the main cause of death by suicide, especially in a scenario like this, would have been underlying issues between the father and son. 

Mr Macharia says the son may also have remembered how the father reacted some time ago due to a past incident and this may have triggered the reaction. 

"In such a case, there is usually a sense of guilt involved and this also comes with psychological pain where a victim blames himself until he gets angry at himself and as a way of punishing himself, he would try to hurt himself," he says. 

"Victims of this also think about how society and family will look at them after the incident and they would not be able to face them, so this aspect of shame after the fact is usually a big deal for such individuals," he explains.

The best way to deal with this in such a scenario is to admit it, express yourself and say you are sorry.

"If you are afraid, you can confront the family members with voices of authority in the community. This could be a pastor or a chief who can intervene in the matter and help find an amicable solution," Mr Macharia says.