How ‘petty offence’ pushed teenager to take her own life

Should school consider taking students to guiding and counseling before punishing them?

Butere Girls’ High School student Elizabeth Musoi Muunya “killed herself” after she was suspended from school on what she termed as a “petty offense”, her suicide note shows.

In the note, obtained by Butere OCPD Boniface Lisiolo, Ms Musoi, 17, began her message by apologising to her elder sister for the action she was about to take.

“To sister, I am sorry to have taken this bad decision of killing myself. I know you love me very much, but I have to do this because I want to join mum and dad. And, say sorry to my ‘parents’. I had to do this because I could not bear being sent home for a petty offense,” read the suicide note.

Mr Lisiolo says Ms Musoi’s body was found inside a dormitory in the school Friday afternoon.

BUTERE GIRLS HIGH SCHOOL [PHOTO | COURTESY]

“She strangled herself using a necktie,” said the OCPD.

“She tied the necktie to the upper bed, and was found ‏hanging on the lower bed,” said the Butere police boss.

“On her bed, there was an exercise book, in which she had written a suicide note. She addressed her message  written in English  to her sister,” said Mr Lisiolo.

Ms Musoi’s body was moved to St. Mary’s Mumias Mission Hospital mortuary.

Butere Girls’ High School principal, Jennifer Omondi, said – in her statement filed at Butere police post – that she wasn’t “aware” of any suspension order against Ms Musoi.

According to Ms Musoi’s fellow students, the last time they saw her was on Friday morning during breakfast.

They discovered, later in the day, that she wasn’t in class during Geography exam.

Butere Sub-County director of education, Martin Likoko, declined to comment on the matter.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *