NAIROBI, Kenya, May 6 – A Kenyan Arsenal fan committed suicide on Wednesday following his team’s 4-1 aggregate drubbing by arch-rivals Manchester United in Tuesday night’s Champions League semi-final.
Suleiman Alphonso Omondi, 29, living in Nairobi’s Embakasi neighbourhood, hung himself in his Arsenal shirt after the match late on Tuesday.
His friends told Capital News that he had been watching the match at a Pub, about 100 meters from his house off Mombasa road.
"We were watching the match together, and when Arsenal was defeated, he protested and walked out crying as Man-U fans castigated the losers,” Omondi Oloo, one of his friends said.
Another friend, Calvin Otieno, who confessed to be an Arsenal fan told Capital News that the deceased was a die-hard fan who would suspend any business at whatever time to watch the game.
On Tuesday, he said, the two joined other fans at the local pub at 7 Pm and ordered a few drinks as they waited for the match.
“We were joking as usual with our rival team supporters and nothing seemed unusual. The match started and we were all in a jovial mood watching and shouting until the time it was evident we were headed for a big loss,” he said.
“After the match, Omondi started crying and walked out and he never came back.”
On Wednesday, a guard at the deceased’s home said he discovered the body at the balcony hanging from a rope tied to the grills on the upper floor.
The deceased wore his arsenal-branded t-shirt and a pair of brown trousers. His slippers were on the ground.
Officers from Embakasi police station were informed and arrived at the scene to collect the body.
“We were telephoned this morning (Wednesday) and informed that a man had committed suicide. We arrived here early enough and what we are gathering is that this suicide is related to the Arsenal and Man-U match played last night,” Embakasi divisional Police chief David Bunei said.
“We have done all the procedures required and we have in fact allowed the family to accompany officers to the city mortuary for clearance because they are Muslims and they intend to burry their kin today (Wednesday),” he added.
Curious onlookers flocked the four-storey building for a glimpse of the man’s body which was loaded onto a police land rover and taken to the city mortuary.
His neighbours said he lived alone in the single-bed roomed house, though his girlfriend was a regular visitor.
“He was such a nice guy and he was very polite, he never had issues with people around here,” one of his neighbours said.
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