It adds the number of people who have committed suicide in the past days, which has hit almost 600 in four months. On July 31, a prison warden committed suicide in his house in Kamagambo area, Migori County days after he had gone on social media and issued threats to do so. A report by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations says at least 500 people have committed suicide in separate incidents in three months (March-June) in the country. The country has also witnessed an increase in intimate partner killings and family-based crimes partly due to the circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic and mental health issues. The team also recommended that mental illness be declared a national emergency of epidemic proportions, to prioritize mental health as a priority public health and socioeconomic agenda.

Source: The Star August 04, 2021 05:03 UTC