Family’s Heartbreaking Insight: Why Mother and Daughter Leapt Into Swollen River
She was raised as a modest, cheerful, intelligent, and ambitious child in Kabiroini village, Kirinyaga County.
Maureen Wangui, 29, a professional nutritionist, was always smiling, and her parents took great pride in her.
However, on May 4, she shocked everyone by jumping into the turbulent Nyamindi River with her ill five-year-old daughter, Precious Wairimu, on her back.
Saturday’s tragic events left her family, friends, and villagers in a state of shock.
The police retrieved the bodies of Wangui and her daughter from the river and took them to the morgue, leaving the family grieving.
The child’s body was discovered first by police and residents. Three days later, Wangui’s body was found floating in the water, 10 kilometers away from where she had drowned with her daughter.
What drove her to take her own life along with her innocent and sick child?
Before her death, Wangui suffered from mental anguish due to being abandoned by her lover and her child’s illness. She also often voiced her frustration over the lack of formal employment.
Her family described how Wangui endured mental struggles despite being raised in a well-off family.
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“She had everything she needed growing up, but her problems made her life difficult. We did everything we could to help her, but she chose a path that deeply shocked us,” said her mother, Irene Micere.
The family recounted that Wangui became pregnant in 2019 while studying for a college diploma, with a man who promised to marry her after she completed her medical course.
“When my daughter gave birth, her lover would often visit and even buy clothes for the baby, along with his parents,” said Ms. Micere.
Determined to succeed, Wangui continued her education while her mother cared for her baby, eventually finishing her course.
Upon returning home, she continued caring for the baby, who was unfortunately struck by meningitis and left paralyzed.
The child frequently needed hospital visits, making it challenging for Wangui to focus on finding a job.
This troubled Wangui and led to depression, according to her family. Her condition worsened when she learned that her lover had rejected her.
“When my daughter discovered her lover had married another woman, she felt bitter and betrayed. Her condition worsened after that,” explained Micere.
At times, she would scream and refuse to eat without any apparent reason.
This concerned her parents, prompting them to take her to Embu Referral Hospital for medical check-ups and counseling.
However, this did not have much effect, as she refused to take the prescribed medication.
“She insisted she was not mentally ill and would not take the medication prescribed by the psychiatrist,” said Micere.
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“Sometimes she would go unusually quiet, refuse to talk to us, and threaten to leave home on a one-way journey,” Micere added.
She later began showing suicidal tendencies, leading her parents to closely monitor her.
“One evening, after dinner, she became violent and wanted to leave home at night with her baby. I took the baby from her and told her she couldn’t leave. After my husband spoke to her, she calmed down and agreed to stay home,” said Ms. Micere.
Tired of life, Wangui seemed to secretly plan how to end her own life and her baby’s life while staying with her parents in Embu, where they worked.
She persuaded her father to give her a portion of the coffee farm so she could support her child and become self-sufficient.
On Tuesday last week, Wangui mentioned she would visit her elderly grandparents in Kabiroini, Gichugu, and left with her father. After arriving in Kabiroini, her father showed her a portion of the coffee farm, where she planted trees along her boundary.
Her father then returned to Embu, leaving his daughter with her grandparents.
A few days later, tragedy struck. Wangui committed suicide and murder on the same day, shocking the entire village.
That Saturday, Wangui went discreetly to the swollen Nyamindi River, jumped in, and drowned along with her daughter.
She was washing clothes outside when she slipped out of her grandparents’ home unnoticed and hurried to the nearby river, where she drowned herself and the baby.
A watchman at the nearby coffee factory witnessed the shocking event and alerted the authorities.
Wangui’s parents remembered her as an ambitious woman who knew what she wanted out of life.
“Wangui was a visionary woman who sought the best education and a life free from dependence. She completed a certificate course in nutrition and registered for a diploma in nutrition, and before her passing, she talked about pursuing a degree in nutrition. Tragically, she took her life before fulfilling her dreams,” said Micere.
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Mr. Munene described his daughter as a hardworking and cheerful person.
“My daughter was always active and smiling, though she wasn’t very talkative. We loved her dearly,” he said.
Stephen Maembe, an uncle, recalled his interactions with Wangui when she stayed with her grandparents.
“Wangui seemed fine, we talked often, and she appeared happy. She was friendly to everyone, and her death came as a shock,” said Mr. Maembe.
“We grieve over the loss of Wangui and her child; their deaths will stay with us forever,” said Mr. Maembe.
“She was washing clothes within the home compound when she disappeared without anyone noticing,” said Mr. Ngobo Kuruma, Wangui’s grandfather.
The family is still struggling to cope with the deaths of their loved ones.
“We haven’t set a burial date yet because one of the bodies was only recently found,” said Ms. Micere, who works as a clerical officer at the Registration of Persons office in Embu County.
As Kenyans tried to process the deaths of Wangui and her daughter, another medical professional in neighboring Nyeri County reportedly died by suicide after killing her baby.
The death of Shiru Ka Ribui, also known as Mama Bella, a social media enthusiast, left many locals and relatives shocked.
Friends described her as quiet and introverted. Shiru often sought help through social media, but her pleas seemed to go unheard, leading to depression.
Before ending her life and that of her daughter, Shiru stated she would not leave her daughter to suffer.
Family’s Heartbreaking Insight: Why Mother and Daughter Leapt Into Swollen River
