The body of a teacher who reportedly went missing on December 22, 2022, was found buried in a concrete coffin inside his home in Ihururu village, Nyeri County, Kenya.
The lifeless body of 45-year-old Joseph Gathogo, a teacher at Muhoya Secondary School, was retrieved by police from the rental house at Ihururu Shopping Centre on Thursday, January 12, 2023.
The teacher is believed to have placed himself inside a coffin he reportedly made after which he ingested an identified poison.
A bouquet of flowers, a black flag and scrolls written in weird writings, and a cow horn had been placed near the boat-like structure.
The body of Joseph Gathogo Njambi, 45, was discovered by his landlord in single-roomed house laid in a concrete coffin covered in plywood and a black flag.
According to his landlord Kariuki Njama, Gathogo, who had been his tenant for 19 years, was last seen on December 19, 2022.
“We last saw Gathogo on December 19, last month, his phone was off. I thought he had gone home for Christmas break until his mother came looking for him on January 1,” he noted.
Njama reported the case of his missing tenant to the Ihururu police post when they still could not trace him.
As days went by, he became suspicious of the tenant’s house after fellow tenants spoke about a foul smell coming out of Gathogo’s house and immediately reported the matter to the police.
“The police came and after breaking into the house they found a concrete coffin with the deceased decomposing body. There was also an assortment of chemicals.
Hundreds of curious residents milled the area to catch glimpse of the home-made coffin. The smell of the unknown poison which he had swallowed was evident.
“The coffin was made of concrete but covered with plywood, there was a black flag with mysterious drawings and unreadable writings. I have never witnessed such a thing in my life, it’s very shocking,” Njama said.
Villagers described Gathogo as very reserved, with no friends visiting his home, but dedicated to his work.
Credit:LIB
