Kenyan Woman, 28, Kills Self Soon After Posting Suicide Notes to Daughter, Dad on Facebook
A 28-year-old Kenyan woman has taken away her own life shortly after posting suicide notes on social media.
Millicent Kithinji Mwiriki from Gaturi Village in South Imenti, Meru County committed suicide after posting on Facebook messages addressed to her dad and three-year-old daughter.
At 3:30 pm on Thursday, she wrote a message to her daughter reading: “My love, I can’t find words that would form a perfect statement to express how much I love you. I have fought the battle, but it seems I am almost losing it. I only pray that God may give you guidance, love, and comfort. Mum still loves you, and will always love you. Kindly, forgive me.”
10 minutes earlier, Millicent had made another post addressed to her father.
“Dad, sorry, but I am not able to break the news. I hope you will forgive me,” reads her Facebook post at 3:20 pm.
Millicent reportedly hanged herself in her parents’ granary shortly after posting the notes.
“Her father found her body hanging from a rope tied to the rafters of the storehouse,” a family member, who declined to be mentioned, told a local news outlet.
Her past social media posts suggest Millicent was struggling to fend for her daughter, whom she loved if her Facebook updates, is anything to go by.
On March 3rd, 2019 she posted: “I love you, [my daughter]. I struggle so much to provide for you. Although at the moment I do not have a job; and getting you things that you ask for is hard, but I’ll always promise to buy you. In a bid to look for money, I sometimes fall for conmen and fake adverts, who end up eating the small resources I would have used to provide for you. I ask God to give me sufficient grace to be able to love and provide for you. God gave me the best gift [in you] that I could ever ask for.”
She holds a Diploma in Purchasing and Supplies Management from Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT).
In a private conversation with her Facebook friend, Wanjiku Murage Mucheru in January, Millicent narrated her woes.
She said: “I know it is hard to get employment as a procurement officer, but if I can get jobs such as store clerk, receptionist, waitress, sales representative, and cashier at a supermarket or any shop, I think I would do my best. I have suffered a lot. For now, I am not choosing any job to do; so long as it would pay me."
“I was married and stayed together with the father of my daughter. I was working at the time and my baby daddy was running a [medical] clinic at Muthiga in Kinoo. Financially, I would say we were stable. When I gave birth, I lost my job. I, thereafter, remained at home as he went to work. However, it got to a point when his business began declining in terms of profits. It, therefore, became hard for him to sustain us. We moved from the one-bedroom house we were into a bedsitter, given we couldn’t afford monthly rent for the previous house."
“Matters, nonetheless, worsened. I, thereafter, decided to take my girl to a day-care as I walked into offices in Nairobi CBD and Westlands in search of a job. In September 2017, my baby daddy returned to school to further his education in a bid to increase the chances of improving his income. I decided to go back to my rural place."
“A better part of 2018, I stayed with my parents in the rural setting doing casual work in tea plantations.
“I moved out [of my parents’ place] because my dad often came home drunk and embarked on lecturing me. If you can get me a place where I can work and fend for my daughter, I would appreciate.”
Her baby daddy had reportedly promised to reunite with her after completing his studies at the Kenya Medical Training College (KMTC) in Nakuru.
However, the reunion did not happen after the man allegedly cut off contact with her.
“The man completely cut off communication with her after graduating in December 2018. That could have catalyzed our relative’s frustrations,” the family member told eDaily.