A primary school teacher found dead at her home in Bomet is suspected to have been poisoned, preliminary reports indicate, as investigations continue into the deaths of the woman and her husband.
Viola Kirui was found unresponsive in her house last Sunday, October 4, 2026, while her husband, Joseph Kirui, who is a nurse at Longisa County Referral Hospital, was found dead in the homestead in what police suspect was a suicide.
A postmortem conducted on Ms Kirui’s body on Monday at the Longisa County Referral Hospital mortuary found traces of a substance suspected to be toxic, raising the possibility that she was poisoned.
Samples taken from her body have been sent to the Government Chemist in Kisumu for toxicology tests to establish whether she ingested a poisonous substance and, if so, what substance was involved.
The results are not expected immediately, as the analysis may take time.
Joseph Kirui, a nurse at Longisa County Referral Hospital in Bomet, and his wife Viola Kirui, a primary school teacher. The couple were found dead at their home on October 4, 2026.
Photo credit: Courtesy
A family member, Mr Willys Simotwo, said the postmortem on Ms Kirui had been conducted and samples taken for further analysis. A similar examination is expected to be conducted on Mr Kirui’s body.
The postmortems are expected to help establish the circumstances surrounding the couple’s deaths and pave the way for their burial. The couple leaves behind three young children.
The deaths have left relatives and colleagues grappling with unanswered questions, particularly given reports that the couple had experienced longstanding family disagreements.
Family members, church officials and elders are said to have intervened on several occasions to help resolve the disputes. The circumstances surrounding the latest disagreement, however, remain unclear.
He said assorted medicines found near Ms Kirui’s body had been collected and taken for analysis as part of the investigations.
The Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) Bomet branch secretary Desmond Langat and branch treasurer Peter Rono rallied teachers to raise the Sh20,000 required for the postmortem as colleagues sought to support the bereaved family and help establish what happened.
“It is unfortunate that the family has lost two breadwinners in circumstances whose answers have not been forthcoming. We are coming together to ease the pain and pressure on the family,” Mr Langat said.
Mr Rono urged couples experiencing difficult family situations to seek professional support and intervention where necessary.
“In this case, three young children have lost both parents and a family is mourning,” he said.
He said the deaths had renewed concerns about cases of gender-based violence and suicide in Bomet and the wider South Rift region.
In the past six months, at least four teachers in Bomet have died in circumstances linked to gender-based violence, according to the KNUT officials. Several of the cases remain unresolved.
