A man has reportedly died by suspected suicide roughly 24 hours after beheading his estranged wife at their home in Kithiriti village, Kirinyaga county.

Mwea-east sub-county police commander Patrick Nyaanga confirmed the incident.

According to Nyaanga – the man – identified as Michael Muriithi -- had gone into hiding since Saturday night – after he killed his wife with a machete following a quarrel at home.

The deceased wife has been identified as Jane Njoki, aged 33 years.

According to residents, Michael and his wife started fighting just after his wife had prepared supper for their two children on that fateful Saturday night.

The two had reportedly been living separately.

“The man and his wife had been living separately for a while now, but the wife would come home to see her children and cook for them,” said a neighbour who only identified himself as Nyaanga.

Njoki was hacked to death just as she was leaving her estranged husband’s compound after cooking for the children.

The man is said to have gone into hiding -- with the police combing the village trying to find him -- to seek clarification on what may have transpired that Saturday.

However, the body of the man was discovered on Monday morning hanging on a tree, by the roadside.

“There was concern that the man could turn his wrath against the children after killing his wife on Saturday night. Police have been trying to find the man since the incident happened,” said Kutus location chief Nancy Gichuki.

She advised residents to stop gender based violence, and urged married people to resolve marital differences in a peaceful manner.

The two bodies are lying at the Kibugi funeral home in Kutus awaiting postmortem.