NAIROBI, Kenya — Detectives have opened investigations into three separate incidents in Nairobi in which young women, all university students, lost their lives under disturbing circumstances between November 21 and 23.
In Ngara, police are probing the death of 23-year-old Daystar University student Lorna Kathambi, who fell from the eleventh floor of a residential building in the early hours of Sunday morning.
Kathambi had been attending a party with seven colleagues on Saturday night, an event that neighbours said had grown increasingly noisy as it went past midnight.
According to guards on duty, a loud bang was heard shortly before they discovered Kathambi’s body on the ground floor.
She had sustained severe head injuries and died at the scene. Detectives say they are investigating the case as a possible murder, but have not ruled out an accidental fall or a confrontation that could have led to the fatal plunge.
The seven students who were in the apartment at the time have been arrested for questioning. The body has been moved to the mortuary pending an autopsy.
Elsewhere in Githurai, police are investigating two separate suspected suicide cases involving young female university students.
In the first case, 25-year-old Gloria Kwamboka Angwenyi, who had been missing for two days, was found dead in the bathroom of her bedsitter. Police said she was seated on the floor with a blue bedsheet tied around her neck, and a suicide note was found in the room.
The house had been locked from the inside, prompting neighbours and officers to break down the door when they became concerned. Her body was taken to the mortuary for post-mortem examination.
In the second Githurai incident, officers discovered the decomposed body of Latifa Wangari, 22, a third-year Kenyatta University student. Neighbours told police they had not seen her since November 11 and had grown alarmed after detecting a foul smell from her apartment.
Police gained access by breaking a window and found her body hanging from a window grill, a scarf tied around her neck.
A note believed to have been authored by her was recovered, though investigators are evaluating its authenticity.
Her body has also been transferred to the mortuary for forensic analysis.
The three incidents come amid growing national concern over rising suicide cases, particularly among young people. The World Health Organization attributes such deaths to factors including depression, bipolar disorder, unemployment, academic pressure, substance misuse, financial stress, and past trauma.
Kenyan authorities say efforts are underway to strengthen mental-health support systems as cases continue to climb.
Police say investigations into all three deaths are ongoing, with autopsy results expected to offer crucial leads in determining the circumstances surrounding each case.
