Missing Karatina University student found dead

A Karatina University student who went missing on Sunday has been found dead.
Joseph Nderitu Ndiangu’s body was found in a deserted timber house in Gitunduti village, Mathira East, Nyeri County.

The body of the first-year political science student was discovered at around noon on Tuesday about two kilometres from the university.

Daniel Musambi, the university’s chief security officer, told Nation.Africa the student, who resided on the main campus in Kagochi, had been missing since Sunday.

“On Saturday, the student apparently had some mental problems and experienced hallucinations,” Mr Musambi said. 

“He tried to run into the nearby Ragati forest complaining to his colleagues that some people were chasing him, but some police officers managed to bring him back to the university, where he was given some medicine. 

“He was alright until the next day. On Sunday, CCTV footage showed he left in the morning at around 7.20am to an unknown place. We informed his parents and we [had] been looking for him since.”

Found dangling

Initial investigations suggested the student could have died by suicide, he said. The student had marks in the neck and a piece of cloth was found dangling from a truss, suggesting an earlier suicide attempt.

Mr Musambi said there were no other visible injuries and his personal effects, including his phone, were intact.

“The body did not have physical injuries when it was discovered and there was no suicide note. We are investigating it. We suspect when the first attempt to take his life failed, he took some poison. He had a psychiatric problem but for now we have to wait for a postmortem report,” he said.

Officers from the Karatina police station took the body to the Karatina Level IV Hospital mortuary for an autopsy.

This is the second suspected suicide case at Karatina University since 2014.