BY WINSTONE MUSISI
A police sergeant committed suicide today by setting himself on fire after shopping for his family a head of Jamhuri day celebration in an incident that has shocked residents of Emigoin village in Uasin Gishu County.
Sergeant Sammy Chirchir who was stationed at Loya police station in Turkana County ended his life in his children’s bedroom by dosing himself with petrol after closing the door from inside.
Eldoret West OCPD Mr Edward Masibo confirmed the incident saying the slain officer was on a one week off duty when he killed himself in the bedroom of his children.
Masibo said that the permanent house in which the deceased officer committed suicide was razed down completely due to the impact of the raging fire noting that his body was burnt beyond recognition.
Fire engulfed whole apartment
“The sergeant’s body was burnt beyond recognition from the impact of the fire that engulfed the whole permanent house which he had built for his family,” said Masibo.
The OCPD said that the scene of crime officers who arrived at scene after being alerted about the incident, transported the charred remains of the slain police officer to Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital mortuary.
He said police have launched investigations into the incident but hastened to add that one of reasons which led the sergeant to take on his own life was connected to marital problems with his estranged wife.
“We are made to understand that the slain officer had long standing marital issues with estranged wife but officers from the directorate of criminal investigations department have launched a probe with a view to establish the whole episode behind the slain officer’s action to end his life,” said Masibo.
GSU recruits
The incident comes barely a week after President Uhuru Kenyatta urged police officers to seek alternative solutions to challenges facing them instead of resorting to the gun.
The Head of State who was speaking Wednesday last week when he commissioned new General Service Unit (GSU) recruits said that expressing oneself is one way of dealing with mental stress especially in the police force.
“There are many challenges in this world and mental health is also a real problem, but it is a problem that can be addressed if you reach out. There is no need of doing the things that we keep on witnessing,” he said, “The gun is meant to protect lives.”
The President spoke a day after a police officer based in Kabete, Nairobi killed his wife following a domestic quarrel before he went on a shooting spree on Waiyaki Way that left 5 people dead.