A family in Malindi is seeking help to have the body of their daughter retrieved from the Indian Ocean after she committed suicide at the Kilifi Bridge.
Beatrice Neema Kaluma, a 22 Year old a final student at Shanzu Teachers College in Mombasa County is said to have left her home four days prior to her demise.
Mary Mwadondo, Neema’s mother, says that her daughter woke up early on Thursday morning and left the house but she did not reveal where she was going.
“She left at 3: 55 am and when I asked her where she was going, she told me she wanted to drink tap water within the compound but she failed to return, that is when I woke up his brother to try to find out but she could not be traced,” she said.
Mwadondo said they received news from the area chief after reporting the matter who told them the woman who was found bore similar features to that of her daughters’.
“The chief in Malindi broke the news to us that she had committed suicide and her national identity card and phone were at the Kilifi police station. We then immediately travelled to Kilifi police station where we confirmed the sad news,” she added.
According to an eye witnesses, the deceased arrived in Kilifi town from Malindi at around 5:00 am on Thursday morning and boarded a boda boda heading towards Mnarani area, but upon reaching at the middle of the bridge, she stopped the rider, quickly alighted and jumped in the water at the middle of the bridge.
According to Abdi Shalo of the Kilifi Boat Operators Association, cases of people jumping off the Kilifi Bridge were on the rise and that many ended up losing their lives because of lack of sea rescue equipment.
“We have seen an increase in the number of people trying to jump over the bridge but we lack diving gear that will make rescue operations smooth. We want the County government to address the issue,” he said.
