The family of Brigid Jemosop, the 23-year-old Kenyan student who died in Dublin, Ireland two weeks ago has detailed their last interactions with her before they learned of her death.
Jemosop had been pursuing her bachelor’s degree in nursing while working part-time in Dublin since June last year.
Her family says she flew into the country for a one-week vacation last month, when they spent time with her in Nairobi, Mombasa and her upcountry home in Kabarnet, adding that she was in high spirits.
In an interview with the Daily Nation newspaper, the family says they accompanied her to the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi to see her off on February 7.
Brigid’s mother, Sarah Kandie, says two days after she arrived in Dublin, her daughter called to tell her she was at the airport receiving some girls from Kabarnet who had flown there for studies and she would be their host.
The family says their uneasiness came the following day, Sunday, February 11, when Brigid called asking to speak to her brother.
“I handed the phone to her brother and I sensed that something was amiss. A few minutes later, I noticed that her brother, who had moved some distance away from me, was crying and I snatched the phone and asked her what was wrong.”
“She indicated that she was stressed but insisted that it had nothing to do with money. She told me that her boyfriend had allegedly locked her in the house, yet she was supposed to go to work,” the mother told the newspaper.
She said her daughter claimed she feared for her life, alleging that the said boyfriend had earlier threatened to stab her but insisted she would handle the case herself.
“I informed her to call the authorities and she said she had already done so. I also advised her to inform the same student from Kabarnet, who was also living with her in the same city but she claimed she would handle it,” the mother said.
According to the brother, Victor Kiprotich, his younger sister insisted that he first move a distance from their mother when he was handed the phone and he obliged.
“We are so fond of each other but that day she seemed to be in very low spirits. Immediately we started talking she broke down crying, claiming that she was very disturbed and that she had been locked inside the house by her boyfriend who had left,” Kiprotich said.
He says he advised her to call the guards to sort out the issue and she confirmed that she had done so and that they were on their way.
“I also told her to call her roommates who also hail from Kabarnet but she said it would take them two hours to reach where she was. She told me that if she did not talk to me again, then I should stay rest assured that she loves me, then my mother took the phone from me after realising that our conversation was disturbing,” the brother added.
The following day, on Monday, the family says they tried to reach Brigid in vain as their calls went unanswered.
On Tuesday evening, they managed to reach some students and roommates who were living with Brigid, who told them that their family member was dead and that she had allegedly ingested bleach and died shortly after being attended to at a medical facility on Monday morning.
The family has urged Kenyans to stop speculating about Brigid’s death online and has called on the government to help them get justice for their deceased kin and help repatriate the body.
The family would receive news of Brigid’s death two days later from relatives and friends that she was no more after unsuccessfully trying to reach her on the phone.
“They insisted on a family member going there so that they could release the results of the autopsy and also release the body for repatriation and we are pleading for help because we have to look for money to facilitate our travel there,” Brigid’s mother told Daily Nation.
They say they are yet to receive any formal communication from Irish authorities on the circumstances surrounding her death.
