Police officers in Kitui have launched investigations into the death of a police officer who was guarding the rural home of Wiper leader Kalonzo Musyoka in Tseikuru.
Sources say the officer committed suicide over a reason yet to be identified.
Kitui County police commander Leah Kithei said preliminary investigations indicate that the officer could have died as a result of taking poison.
The officer who lived within the compound of the Wiper leader is said to have been heard groaning in pain on Sunday morning around 8:30.
"His colleagues who responded to the distress call stormed his house in a bid to establish what had happened," Kithei said.
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"The officer was found unconscious prompting his colleagues to rush him to Mumoni Nursing Hospital in Tseikuru trading center where he died while receiving treatment."
Kithei added:
"We have launched an immediate probe into the matter and we hope to get the real cause of his death after we are done with the probe and also after receiving the autopsy report."
The deceased officer is said to have harbored suicidal thoughts and at one time his colleague wrestled him and grabbed a bottle of poison he intended to take.
Cases of suicide among police officers have been on the rise in recent months with reports attributing to work-related stress.
Approximately 1.5% of all deaths worldwide are by suicide.
In a given year, this is roughly 12 per 100,000 people.
Rates of suicide are generally higher among men than women, ranging from 1.5 times higher in the developing world to 3.5 times higher in the developed world.
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