Police officers in Eldoret town have launched a probe into the death of a 12-year-old Uasin Gishu Primary School pupil.
The body of the pupil is said to have been found dangling at the door of a house she was living in with her aunt in Kokwas estate on the outskirts of Eldoret town.
Family members of the deceased say they received information of the death through a phone call made to their area chief.
The family lives in Nakuru County but the pupil has been studying at the Uasin Gishu Primary School while staying with her aunt.
“We were told that the child had committed suicide which we were not even aware of. Someone called the chief who passed the information to us,” said Mary, cousin to the mother of the deceased.
Members of the family who were at the Central Police Station in Eldoret on Wednesday say the circumstances under which the child died were questionable.
“We spoke to the school head teacher who is not even aware of what happened because it was on Friday afternoon. We have seen pictures of the crime scene and the girl’s legs had reached the ground. She looks like she had blood on the nose,” another family member told journalists.
Sudden death
The family wants thorough investigations to be done so that the real cause of the death is known.
“All we want is for the girl to get justice because she comes from a family with a humble background. Even if she committed suicide, we need to know why,” said Mary Njeri, a neighbour to the deceased family in Nakuru.
Uasin Gishu Deputy County Police Commander Zacchaeus Ng’eno confirmed that investigations into the incident had commenced.
Ng’eno says the deceased has been identified as Sydney Chebet
“The body was found hanging at the grill of the door of the house that allegedly belonged to her aunt who reported to the police that he had left for shop and when she came back, she found her dead,” said the deputy police boss.
The girl’s body has since been moved to the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital (MTRH) mortuary awaiting postmortem.
“The postmortem will tell us the real cause of the death,” said Ng’eno.
“We’re still collecting evidence from eyewitnesses but as of now, we term it as a sudden death incident,” he added.
There had been claims that the girl might have been facing abuse from her aunt, but police say no conclusion has been made yet over the cause of the shocking incident.
