Middle-aged Man On The Run After Stabbing To Death His Estranged Lover.
According to eye witness reports, this man, who hails from a
neighbouring village, has been a lovers to 35 year-old Joyce Njoki Kinyanjui
for quite a while though the two have been in constant quarrels especially when
they were drunk.
“I am an aunt to the deceased. Neighbours have told us that
the two quarreled last night at around 11pm where the man stabbed her on the
chest, killing her instantly. The two were not married but were just lovers.
Wanyoike (the suspect) has been visiting her and going out with her as her
lover. However, of late he has been threatening to kill her on several
occasions. Wanjiku has even reported these threats to her elderly father who
used to tell her to leave him alone,” said Jane Wambui Thiong’o.
One of her sons who is 9 years old and who witnessed the
murder say that the man called out his mother at around 9:30pm where they
started talking and later left to a pub just within the same compound. He said
that they later came back towards the house quarreling before he stabbed her on
the chest, just by their door.
“My mother lay down the floor when I came here. I saw some
blood on her chest and when I opened to look where she was hurt, I saw a big
hole between her breasts. I cried out for help and the neighbours came,” said
the deceased’s son.
The assailant is said to have disappeared into the darkness,
with some people claiming that he immediately boarded a Thika-bound matatu
before people had realised what he had done. It took sometime before the
neighbours came to her rescue as most of them thought that this was just the
usual fight by drunkards who frequented the pub every night.
By the time they responded, this mother of five had already
passed on.
Majority of those who we talked to blamed the incident to
alcoholism that was now rampant in the area. They blamed the authorities for
allowing so many pubs within the residential areas, a factor that had
contributed to moral decay in the area and several cases of insecurity. They
called on Murang’a Governor Mwangi Wa Iria to intervene and cancel all licences
issued to pubs that were within the residential areas.
“As far as I am concerned, alcoholism is to blame for this
death. When these two were not under the influence of alcohol, they used to be
very jovial and exhibited a lot of love between themselves. I appeal to the
authorities too to deregister all pubs that are within the residential area as
they are causing so much suffering to the residents who live within those
areas. Like now, the children to the deceased were always witnessing how their
mother used to fight with this man every time they left this pub because it is
just outside their house,” said one witness who requested foe anonymity due to
fear of reprisal from bar owners.
Another school of thought had it that the bone of contention
arose from the fact that the man was bitter that the deceased was calling it
quits after fleecing him all the money that he had acquired from the sale of
his plot of land. This line of thought argue that the two met in a certain pub
where the deceased was working as a waitress and an affair ensued. It is
alleged that after the two squandered all the money, the deceased started
avoiding this man, something that angered him.
They claim that the occasional threats and fights emanated
from the man feeling cheated and vowed to revenge by killing her as he could
not bear the pain of losing both his money and the lady who he spent it with.
Otherwise, neighbours and relatives are calling upon well-wishers
to the aid of the children, who are now orphaned, as their paternal father had
died earlier. Their grandfather is an old man who can barely make ends meet.
“We have a great challenge here as she has left behind five
very young kids, the eldest being 13 years old and the youngest is 2. The deceased
father is an old man who cannot manage to take care of these children. We are
therefore appealing to the government as well as well-wishers to come to the
aid of these children for they have no one to ideally take care of them,” said
Wambui.
Winnie Wanjiku Chege, a community leader, appealed to
families to try and solve their issues amicably as she noted that there has
been an upsurge of domestic violence in the recent times. She argued that it
were better for couples to separate if they felt that things were not working out
in the marriage.
“I would like to appeal to couple that if at all you find
that your marital issues are turning violent, it is better you called it quits
instead of ending up in such a tragic case. If your spouse keep threatening you
that they will kill you, don’t wait for it to happen. You are better off away
from them that dead. As for the women in this area, please learn to depend on
yourselves by seeking those manual jobs that are available in this area,” said Chege.
The body of the deceased is in General Kago Funeral Home in
Thika.
No comments: