When 32-year-old Bernard Kiplangat Langat, popularly known as Kipnyango, secured a teaching job in Narok County two years ago, it marked a turning point in his life.
After seven years of searching for a job, landing an internship with the Teachers Service Commission was a dream come true.
Aside from his professional triumphs, Kipnyango also wanted to start a family and become a provider for his loved ones.
His hopes seemed within reach when he met a student at Ndarawetta Technical Training Institute in Bomet County.
Their relationship blossomed into love and Kipnyango, seeing a bright future with her, asked for her hand in marriage.
For a moment, he thought he had beaten out other candidates who were also eyeing Sharon as a potential wife when she agreed to be his girlfriend and work towards marriage.
However, the relationship took a tragic turn when Kipnyango discovered Sharon's involvement with another man.
Events were to spiral out of control as on Monday, Kipnyango, who had unsuccessfully contested the Kapsasian MCA seat in Narok County in the 2017 general election, died by suicide outside Sharon's home in Ndarawetta.
The mortuary at Longisa County Referral Hospital in Bomet County where the body of Junior Secondary School teacher Benard Kiplangat Langat is kept before burial after he took his own life over a love triangle.
Photo credit: Vitalis Kimutai | Nation Media Group
Before his untimely death, he left behind a suicide note, expressing his anguish and seeking forgiveness from his loved ones.
He also wrote a similar note to his girlfriend claiming she had treated him with “disrespect and ruthlessness” and drove him to taking his life.
“You hurt and broke my heart. I forgive you though. I am sure one day, you will also forgive me,” he addressed Sharon in the note in the post that carries a (selfie) photo in which they are sitting together in what appears to be a sitting room.
Kipnyango is reported to have travelled from his Olpopongi village in Emurua Dikirr constituency to Ndarawetta after getting information that his lady was involved in a relationship with another man.
Witnesses said he arrived at the residential house occupied by his girlfriend, but she declined to let him into the house.
“It is true that the man committed suicide outside the residential area in Ndarawetta, at 3 am Monday,” Bomet Central police boss Musa Imamai told the Nation .
Mr Imamai said the body has been moved to Longisa county referral hospital mortuary awaiting post-mortem examination.
Sharon told the police during interrogation that she had heard the phone suspected to be that of Kipnyango, ringing outside the house on Sunday night.
“There is a need for people with differences to sort them out amicably without taking a life. The clergy should also provide psychosocial support to those with differences and issues in relationships,” Mr Imamai said.
The suicide of the jilted Kipnyango sent shockwaves through the community, shining a light on the silent struggles many individuals endure behind closed doors.
In the emotion-charged note addressed to his parents, Kipnyango begged for forgiveness for disappointing them and that he had left them in the hands of God.
“I am sorry my lovely dad and mum. I know this will hit you hard. You loved me. You sacrificed for me. You raised me and educated me selling the little you had ranging from chickens, goats, cows to even land. It is a pity that I am gone without having given back to you,” he wrote on his Facebook account.
“Sorry, I know you will weep and bleed in your hearts. May God console and do for you all I would have done. Forgive me,” he went on.
“You always looked up to me. I was greatly indebted to you being the firstborn who depleted most of our humble family resources. But despair not. God won’t disappoint you. Work hard. Succeed and raise each as it has always been the practice in our love-shrouded family. Forgive me,” he stated.
He also addressed the same to his uncles, aunts, cousins, nieces and nephews in a similar manner as the neighbours and friends – whom he said raised funding for his school fees without question.
Kipnyango’s friends and family remembered him as a compassionate and outgoing person, making his tragic demise all the more incomprehensible.
“He was a kind-hearted man and outgoing. To imagine that he could not find alternative ways to sort out the issues he was faced with is shattering,” Elvis Kipsang, a friend to Kipnyango said.
Kennedy Langat, another friend, said mental health should be prioritised and a hand of support extended to those who may be silently struggling.
“It is as a stark reminder of the silent battles many individuals face behind closed doors. We never truly know the extent of someone’s troubles, no matter how well we think we know them. It is a sobering realisation that mental health issues can affect anyone regardless of their outward appearance or achievements,” said Langat.
