Body of woman who drowned with tied baby recovered in Kirinyaga

The body of a 29-year-old woman who drowned after jumping into the Nyamidi River in Kirinyaga with her baby strapped to her back was recovered on Monday.

Residents of Kabiroini village in Gichugu, Kirinyaga, said Morren Wangui’s body was found about 10 kilometers downstream.

Police said the body was discovered by residents who were harvesting grass on the banks of the river.

The woman’s uncle, Stephen Kinyua, told reporters they later identified the body.

The body had been swept away by raging waters and had many injuries, witnesses and police said.

The family and residents had been camping at the river as they continued the search.

The search team also discovered a third body of an unidentified man while combing the river for Wangui and her young daughter, police said.

The body has not yet been identified and it is suspected that it is a case of drowning.

Gichugu sub-county police commander Johnson Wachira confirmed the incident and said the deceased had been seen by a coffee factory watchman jumping into the river along with her son on a suspected suicide mission.

However, the reason for the incident is still unknown, he said.

The body of the woman and her five-year-old son were taken to the Kibugi funeral home in Kutus.

The child’s had been previously recovered in the area.

The third body of an unknown man was taken to the Kerugoya mortuary awaiting identification and autopsy.

The incident shocked the villagers of Kabiro-ini.

Her grandmother Fridah Njoki told reporters that Wangui and her daughter had come to visit her because her parents, who are civil servants, work in Embu County.

Suicide cases are rising in the country amid calls to address the trend. The incidents are related to social trauma.

Police say they record at least two cases of suicide a day.