Last Saturday, Joseph Kirui took his wife Viola to a salon for a hair retouch. They spent much of the day together in the village before travelling to Bomet town and returning home in the evening.
By the following morning, the couple was dead.
The 40-year-old nurse at Longisa County Referral Hospital and his wife, a primary school teacher, were found dead a few metres apart at their home in Segerot village in Bomet County, in what police are treating as a suspected murder-suicide.
Their deaths have left relatives, neighbours, friends and colleagues struggling to understand what happened during the night.
The couple’s two young children discovered the tragedy when they went to wake up their parents in the morning. They found their mother unresponsive in the main house and the shock deepened when they went outside and found their father’s body hanging from a tree a few metres from the house.
Their eldest child, who is a boarding student at a secondary school in Kisii County, was away at the time.
The couple lived in separate housing units within the same compound. Joseph and Viola occupied the main house, while their two younger children slept in a smaller house a few metres away.
Relatives and neighbours said the couple had experienced marital difficulties in the past and had been repeatedly reconciled after their differences.
Yet there appeared to be little indication to those around them that anything was amiss on Saturday.
“There was no indication whatsoever that the couple had differences and their death has come to us as a shock,” said family member Willys Simotwo.
Doreen Koech, a neighbour, said she had not noticed any signs of deep-rooted problems between the couple in recent days.
“They spent a good part of the day together with the husband taking his wife to a salon for a retouch of her hair. They later returned home together in the evening, only for them to be found dead in the morning,” a family source said.
Police collected bottles of medicine found near the woman’s body for forensic analysis as investigators sought to establish the circumstances and cause of her death.
Bomet Central Sub-County Police Commander Stephen Kirui confirmed the incident and said investigations were under way. The bodies were taken to the Longisa County Referral Hospital mortuary pending postmortems and their release to the family.
Pastor Simon Tonui of Segerot African Gospel Church said the church had previously intervened to help reconcile the couple. At one point, he said, Viola had left her matrimonial home and gone to stay with her parents before the couple were reconciled.
“We are shocked by the sudden turn of events with the death of the couple. We are calling on members of the public and residents of this region to seek support when they are faced with challenges they cannot resolve on their own,” Pastor Tonui said.
Peter Rono, the Kenya National Union of Teachers Bomet branch treasurer, said the deaths had affected not only the family but also colleagues and learners.
“The news of the death of the teacher and her husband is devastating not only to the family and the community, but also to the teachers and learners of Bomet County and the country,” Mr Rono said, adding that couples experiencing difficulties should seek help whenever there are issues they cannot handle.
