A post-mortem examination confirmed that the Head of Data Protection at KCB Bank Group, Rosemary Chemutai Koech Kimwatu, a 40-year-old executive who was found dead at a house in Ngong, Kajiado County, died by suicide.
Chief Government Pathologist Dr Johansen Oduor examined her remains at the Lee Funeral Home, with detectives and the family present.
Koech had been experiencing marital difficulties before her death, with her family alleging that she had been involved in prolonged domestic and financial disagreements with her husband.
The couple had been married for more than 20 years and had four children.
The family had initially lived together in a house at Memusi in Matasia, located within the ancestral compound of the husband’s parents.
However, according to the deceased’s mother the marriage had become strained.
Koech’s mother told investigators that her son-in-law had at one point complained that his wife had started drinking and had fallen into what he considered bad company.
He allegedly told the deceased’s mother that he intended to send his wife and children back to her parents, asking them to counsel her before he could consider accepting her back into the marriage.
The deceased, however, reportedly gave her parents a different account of the marital problems.
She allegedly complained that her husband had plunged her into debts as she financed his lifestyle and that he had not provided adequate financial support during their marriage because he was unemployed.
She was also reportedly frustrated that she had financed the construction of their family home, only for her relationship with her husband to deteriorate.
The situation reportedly worsened after the deceased travelled to Mombasa to attend a seminar where she was scheduled to make a presentation concerning KCB Bank Group.
After the public-speaking engagement, she reportedly became distressed and exhibited unusual behaviour, prompting her siblings to travel to Mombasa and take her for medical attention.
She was admitted to Chiromo Hospital in Nyali for about a week and was subsequently transferred to Tranquil Medical Centre, where she spent approximately another week before being discharged.
She was diagnosed with depression.
The family said she thereafter stayed with her parents at Kaiyet Close in Ngong as she continued with her recovery.
Her husband later sent her personal belongings and clothes to her parents’ home in four sack bags.
According to the family account, the deceased and her mother later went to the matrimonial home to collect some personal belongings.
They allegedly encountered hostility from the husband and his mother, who reportedly ordered them to leave and warned them against returning.
The family further alleged that the husband threatened to mobilize motorcycle riders against them, claiming to have influence over them because of his political activities.
The deceased’s parents and siblings subsequently secured and furnished a safe house where she could live with her four children.
She reportedly stayed there with the children for about two months before her death.
The circumstances surrounding her final hours have now become a key focus of the police investigation.
According to the house manager, the deceased spoke to her husband on the telephone on the night before she was found dead.
After the children had spoken to their father, the deceased reportedly went to her bedroom while still on the telephone with her husband.
She locked the bedroom door, and the house manager did not see her alive again.
The following morning, the house manager prepared breakfast as usual but became concerned when Koech failed to wake up despite being late for work.
She reportedly called the deceased’s mobile phone several times but received no response. She also knocked on the bedroom door without success.
Relatives were eventually called, and the bedroom door was broken. They found the deceased’s body hanging from a window grill, with a leso tied around her.
Police and other relevant personnel were subsequently involved in processing the scene.
The deceased’s husband has disputed the suggestion that the final telephone conversation was connected to any disagreement.
According to his account to investigators, the lengthy conversation was about reconciliation.
He reportedly said the couple had been discussing plans for reuniting and that his wife had indicated that she was ready to change and return to the matrimonial home.
The conflicting accounts of the couple’s relationship have heightened interest in the circumstances preceding the death.
Police have recovered the deceased’s mobile phone and placed it in safe custody as investigations continue.
The post-mortem examination established suicide as the cause of death. However, police investigations into the circumstances surrounding the death are ongoing.
Tension also reportedly erupted at the mortuary after the post-mortem examination, with members of the two families engaging in heated arguments over who should be listed on the burial permit.
The dispute came against the backdrop of the family’s unresolved disagreements over the deceased’s marriage and the events leading to her death.
The death has left the deceased’s four children under the care of relatives as both families grapple with the loss and the unresolved questions surrounding the events that preceded her death.
Suicide has been a leading cause of death in the country.
The World Health Organization says such cases are attributed to joblessness, death, academic failures or pressures, legal difficulties and financial difficulties. Other reasons are bullying, previous suicide attempts, history of suicide in a family, alcoholism and substance misuse, depression and bipolar disorder.
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