BY AVOKOYWA DENIS
A man who committed suicide on Saturday night after his wife left him was given one of the most unlikely send-off by his kith and kin.
Baalam Nyakwakwa, aged 28 years reportedly took his own life by hanging himself on a tree in the quiet village of Matoyi in Navakholo constituency of Kakamega county.
The Matoyi clan elders took turns to thoroughly cane the late Baalam Nyakwakwa’s body before retrieving it and burying it at night without any fun fare.
The act of flogging the dead is a common tradition among the Luhya people – with the punishment meted on bodies of person’s who commit suicide.
The ritual is believed to posses potent powers that help to drive away evil spirits from the community – and keeping away dark malevolence powers that can influence the community towards the same path the deceased took to end their lives.
After the hurried burial ceremony, a somber mood engulfed the residents following the shocking incident – with many describing the deceased as a kind man.
The mother of the deceased, Edith Imali, said that her son had for the longest time been threatening to commit suicide after his wife left one month ago – and after his efforts to persuade her to return bore no fruit.
“My son and his has had numerous misunderstandings in their marriage, with each accusing the other of infidelity,” she said.