The bodies of a mother and her son were found in their house in Kabete area, Kiambu county after a suspected suicide.

Police said Ruth Nyambura Karuga, 32, had been missing from her place of work before she was discovered dead in her house in Nyathuna trading centre on Thursday, January 26.

Besides her body on the bed, laid the body of her son Francis Kinyanjui, 11.

Nyambura worked at the Nyathuna Level Four Hospital as a support staff.

Her mother told police she had tried to reach her on the phone in vain.

It was then she decided to go and check on her at her house where she saw the body lying on the floor of the bedroom and later alerted the police.

Police arrived at the scene and established the door of the house had been locked from the inside and broke in where they discovered the bodies.

The body of the boy lay on the bed. Preliminary findings did not show any form of injuries on the bodies.

Police suspect suicide as the cause of the deaths but investigations have been launched into the same.

The bodies were moved to the mortuary pending further investigations including autopsy.

Elsewhere, in Maganjo village, Muranga county, the body of Morris Karanja Githinji aged 25 was found dangling on a mango tree in a suspected suicide incident.

The motive of the incident is yet to be established. The body was moved to the mortuary.

Suicide incidents have been on the rise in the past few days at an alarming rate. Police say they receive up to five incidents weekly.

Suicide is a leading cause of death nowadays, officials say.

The World Health Organization says such cases are attributed to joblessness, death, academic failures or pressures, legal difficulties and financial difficulties.

Other reasons are bullying, previous suicide attempts, history of suicide in a family, alcoholism and substance misuse, depression and bipolar disorder.

WHO rates suicide as a serious global public health issue that is among the top 20 leading causes of death worldwide.