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Top 2013 KCSE student found dead in the US


Norah Jelagat Borus, who was the best girl in Nairobi County in the 2013 KCSE exams, was on Friday found dead at Stanford University in California.

Norah was the fourth best student nationally and was admitted in the university’s School of Engineering in 2016.

According to media reports, Norah was found dead at an on-campus residence on Friday.

Mr Joseph Maswan the family spokesperson said some family members have already travelled to the US to establish the circumstances surrounding Norah’s death.

“Yes it is true the family has received the shocking news, but her father and some family members have travelled to the US to establish the cause of her death,” said Mr Maswan.

CAUSE OF DEATH

University president Marc Tessier-Lavigne and Provost Persis Drell confirmed the death

“We have lost another member of our student community. Police this afternoon have confirmed the death of an undergraduate co-term student who was found in a residence on campus,” the Provost said.

“We have been in touch with the student’s family this afternoon. While we are working to understand the family’s wishes, we are not in a position to share the identity of the student.”

The cause and date of death remain unknown and Police said there was “no ongoing safety threat to the campus community.”

CAREER CHOICE

This is the fourth student death announced by Stanford since February this year.

Norah had early been admitted at the University of Nairobi to study Medicine but deferred for a year so that she could find a way to study in the US.

“Medicine was the wrong choice for me and to buy time, I deferred for a year, while trying to find my footing. Many thought this was an outrageous decision,” she had told The Standard in an early interview.

It’s at the Akad Education Group where she worked as a volunteer teacher at PACE (Promoting Access to common Education) Kenya that she got a scholarship to study Computer Science at Stanford University.

She received her letter of acceptance from Stanford in May 2015 and a year later she joined the university to purse engineering.