Love murders; The publicised killing of at least 14 women by their husbands or lovers since January raises a red flag about murderous rage within the family. Experts have blamed the trend on depression, drug abuse, frustration and harsh economic times.
Police records reveal a rise in homicide cases in the last three years, a pointer to a violent culture that is gaining root in society, with women bearing the brunt.Men have also been found to be the majority offenders in homicide cases reported to the police. And even though it does not necessarily mean that all their victims are female, women are increasingly becoming the target for the rage.Last year, 2,856 homicide cases were reported to the police countrywide, a rise from 2,774 the previous year and 2,751 in 2016, according to official statistics.
Over the same period, men were the majority aggressors – 1,126 offenders in 2018 against 186 females, 1,213 against 222 females in 2017 and 1,236 against 203 female offenders in 2016.Most of the dozen cases of women killed since January are as a result of love gone sour. Few other situations are just mysterious deaths.A compilation of the latest deaths shows a worrying trend of a resentful and intolerant generation that lacks skills in resolving even the most trivial of disagreements.The most recent case is of Grace Kagure in Nairobi’s Pipeline Estate. On Sunday of April 28, Kagure was found dead and naked in her living room, with several stab wounds.Neighbours said they heard screams from Kagure’s house between 6am and 7am. The screams suddenly stopped and when they tried to intervene, they could not get in because the steel door was locked. The suspect, James Wambugu, also naked, held a knife in his hand.
Neighbours who saw the body said it had more than 20 stab wounds. The matter is in court.Ivy Wangeci, a Sixth Year Medicine student, was cut with an axe on her head at the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital (MTRH) compound on April 9.The suspect, Naftali Kinuthia, was said to have travelled over 300km from Thika to Eldoret.He was arrested following the attack, which led to the death of the girl who has since been buried at her parents’ rural home in Mahiga, Nyeri County. The suspect has denied killing the student.In mid-March, Christine Maonga, a teacher at Navakholo Secondary School, was allegedly shot dead by her Administration Police partner, Patrick Nyapara, after a domestic disagreement.
The suspect has been charged with murder in a Kakamega court.In the same month, Fridah Makena, a student at Meru National Polytechnic, committed suicide over an unfaithful boyfriend.“I am sorry but I can’t take it anymore. Kelvoh (Fridah’s boyfriend) is the last thing I wanted to lose. There’s no life without him. Suicide was the last thing I ever thought of but I give up. All the best and please don’t miss me,” Makena wrote a phone message to one of her friends.She used to frequent Cooperative University to visit her boyfriend, travelling all the way from Meru. Makena was buried at her parents’ home in Nkubu, Meru County.On February 11, the body of Damaris Njeri was found hanging from an electricity pole in Rukanga village, Kirinyaga County.
Njeri, 22, had been missing for three days before her naked body was found hanging from the pole. The area police boss Joseph Matiku said a postmortem examination showed she was raped before she was killed.On February 17, a student at the Kaiboi Technical Training Institute in Nandi County was stabbed to death by her boyfriend after alleged differences over their relationship.Faith Chepkirui, who had reported to the institution just a few weeks before the incident, was stabbed three times on her head, neck and stomach. Her boyfriend, Mathew Kiptoo Yego, a Second Year student pursuing a course in plumbing, was arrested.On February 23, Evelyne Musira, 28, was found lying in a pool of blood inside her house in Royal Estate in Oruba sub-location, Suna West sub-county.Musira was suspected to have been killed by her husband. She was found by neighbours, with her husband nowhere to be seen. The body had several deep panga cuts.Before her death, the woman reported an assault case against the husband at Migori police station.Mildred Odira is yet another of the women who were killed under mysterious circumstances in the last few months.Odira worked for Foresight Company as a switchboard operator based at the Nation Media Group, before she disappeared, only for her body to be recovered at City Mortuary.According to the family, Mildred had hired a taxi to take her to Ruaraka Uhai Neema Hospital, but that trip never materialised.Odira was last seen leaving her home in Kariobangi South on January 29, heading to the hospital.The taxi driver linked to her murder has since been released due to lack of sufficient evidence to charge him.Beryl Adhiambo Ouma lost her life on February 21 after a domestic squabble with her husband Laiko Osuri at their Kahawa Sukari home.Neighbours reported that screams were heard from their house for hours before it stopped a dawn. She was taken to hospital when she was already dead. Postmortem examination report revealed Beryl was strangled as she slept. It showed she suffered head injuries as well.The suspect was arrested and has been in remand since the incident. The matter is also in court.On New Year, Maureen Aoko, 30, was suspected to have been murdered by her husband Kennedy Oduor in Kakan village, Siaya County. He then attempted to kill himself by taking a poisonous substance.Relatives and friends were alerted by their son, who was outside. They broke into the house, where they found the lifeless body of Aoko lying on the floor. The suspect was also found seated on the chair unconscious with foam oozing from his mouth.On January 3, a badly decomposed body of Maureen Monchari was found in her apartment at Kenyenya in Kisii County. Her naked body had been lying on the kitchen floor for more than a week.Monchari spent Christmas with her family at their home in Kisii, and after the celebrations went back to her house.Nothing would be heard from the 28-year-old teacher at Kenyoro PAG Secondary School in Kenyanya until her rotten body was found nine days later.Results of a postmortem examination conducted on her revealed she was strangled to death.The murder of Mary Wambui Kamangara took place on January 26. She left her residence at Safari Park Gardens for Kahawa Sukari before she vanished.Her body was found a day later at Courtesy Beach situated at Mugutha in Juja, with visible head injuries.Police arrested Mary’s husband Joseph Kori’s alleged lover after blood stained clothes were recovered at the woman’s house at Four Ways Estate on Kiambu road.She is facing murder charges.
