Woman Leaps to Her Death from 19th Floor of View Park Towers.

In a tragic incident on Wednesday, a 45-year-old woman, Charity Muthoni Mutoi, took her own life by jumping from the 19th floor of View Park Towers. According to police, they received the report at around 3:45 pm that she had leapt from the building, leaving behind her shoes, jacket, and mobile phone. She fell onto a tent on the ground floor, where she succumbed to her injuries.

The report came from a supervisor at Hatari Security, employed at View Park Towers. Upon investigation, authorities learned that the deceased had been visiting a male friend, a businessman located on the ground floor. While they were having tea together, she excused herself. Shortly after, her friend received a message from her indicating she had decided to end her life. The police documented the scene, and the body, which had sustained severe injuries, was taken to the city mortuary. The motive for her suicide is yet to be determined.

In a separate suicide case, 12-year-old Titus Wangila, a Grade 5 pupil from Bungoma, was found dead after hanging himself with a shoelace. Police confirmed the incident but reported that no suicide note was found. His body has been moved to Bungoma County Referral Hospital mortuary for preservation pending an autopsy.

The rising trend of suicides in the country has become a serious concern, with an alarming average of two cases reported daily. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 703,000 people die by suicide every year, making it the fourth leading cause of death among individuals aged 15 to 29. WHO links these tragic deaths to factors such as unemployment, death, academic pressures, legal and financial struggles, bullying, past suicide attempts, family history of suicide, alcoholism, substance abuse, depression, and bipolar disorder.

In Kenya, there have been 1,576 recorded suicide deaths over the past four years, according to data from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) and the National Police Service (NPS). However, many suicide attempts go unreported due to the criminalization of suicide, meaning the true scope of the crisis may be even larger.