A man was on Tuesday charged with attempted suicide after he attempted to kill himself by jumping into the Indian Ocean at the Likoni ferry channel in Mombasa.
However, Peter Chege claimed that his actions on February 22 were caused by his heavy debt burden that has been troubling him since 2009.
He gave hilarious explanations before Mombasa Resident Magistrate Martin Rabera, including denying claims that he was saved by coast guards after jumping off MV Harambee.
He claimed that the coast guards only did the simple job of dragging him from a shallow point of the Indian Ocean, after swimming to about 5 metres to the shores.
The latter admitted attempting to kill himself, but added that he changed his mind after remembering his family, hence his decision to swim to safety.
“I am a swimmer and I remembered my family after jumping so I decided to rescue myself. The divers found me just around five meters to the dry side of the ocean,” he was quoted by the Standard.
However, justice Ribera threw out his debt excuse, reminding him that there are many other people living with debts and that could not justify his actions.
The case will be mentioned on March 7.