Femicide in Kenya: Cases of young women getting murdered in the name of love in Kenya have been on the rise over the recent few years. The script seems to be the same in all the incidents:
1). Girl falls in love with man
2). Things go awry in the relationship
3). Girl says she is breaking up or Girl refuses a marriage proposal
5). Man plots and murders girl
The latest of these cases is that of Catherine Nyokabi which has left the nation in shock. In a few weeks, like all the previous cases, Catherine Nyokabi will be forgotten and the country will move on to the next incident, even as wheels of justice grind excruciatingly slow…. sometimes even stopping to grind. In memory of all victims of femicide in Kenya whose families are still searching for justice, we look at the most prominent cases of women who have been murdered in Kenya in the name of love:
Catherine Nyokabi
She was murdered by Evans Karani in April 2021. The suspect, who was a sand broker in Ndarugo, Kiambu County, is said to have confessed to killing Nyokabi after she allegedly entered into a relationship with another man. “He said he had dated Nyokabi, a mother of one, for two years, but of late she had developed interest in another man,” investigators.
Anne Wanjohi
Anne Wanjohi, in 2017, was shot dead by her lover, a police officer identified as Constable Simon Njoroge Njau, for turning down his marriage proposal. The police constable further went ahead and shot himself three times and later succumbed to his self-inflicted wounds three days later at Kenyatta National Hospital.
Ivy Wangechi
On Tuesday, sixth year Moi University student, Ivy Wangechi, was hacked to death by her jilted lover who allegedly drove all the way to Eldoret to commit the heinous act. The suspect, Naftali Kinuthia, is said to have explained that he took the action out of frustrations after Wangechi failed to reciprocate his love towards her. The incident that sounds every note of a ‘murder with a motive’ adds to the growing statistic of cold-blooded murders of young Kenyan ladies.
Endinal Nyainda
In 2016, Endinal Nyainda was stabbed to death by her lover following an argument after she threatened to leave him. The killer then went ahead and called the victim’s sister asking her to come and pick up the corpse of the slain body at a Kahawa apartment where the two lovers lived.
Sharon Otieno
Earlier the same year, Rongo University student Sharon Otieno’s body was found in a thicket where she lay in her blood-stained white tracksuit, with her underwear and condoms around her. The slain university student was abducted from a Garca hotel together with NTV journalist Barrack Oduor. Mr Oduor later freed himself from the abductors by jumping out of a moving vehicle. Sharon was at the time of her death pregnant with Governor Okoth Obado’s baby. The county boss is the main suspect in her murder.
Careen Chepchumba
The former Kenya Power employee Careen Chepchumba died from strangulation. Careen, who was in a relationship with former TV news anchor Louis Otieno, was found dead in her apartment at Kilimani’s Santonia Court, Nairobi, on February 14, 2012, a day after she allegedly indicated to her parents that she wanted to ditch Otieno. An autopsy revealed that Careen bled in the eyes and neck muscles due to pressure applied on her neck by the assailant. Her father told an inquest she had gone on a borrowing spree to finance Louis Otieno’s flashy lifestyle.
Lucy Njambi
Detectives say that she was murdered by her former husband who was an MCA. The politician allegedly paid two men to execute the plan on January 26, 2018 along Kamiti Road, Kiambu County following domestic problems. She was abducted and driven to Sasini Coffee Estate, where she was undressed, raped, beaten up and sulphuric acid poured on her. Her killers who had been hired by her former lover left before Njambi had died. Through pain, she made it to Kiambu/Kamiti corner and a Good Samaritan rushed her to Kiambu Level 5 Hospital and later to Kenyatta National Hospital, where she spoke to police officers.
Joyce Syombua
She was murdered by her former love and father of her kidsr, a KDF officer, in Nanyuki in 2019. Investigators said that Major Peter Mugure had asked Joyce Syombua to bring Shanice Maua, 10, and Prince Michael, 5, to Laikipia Air Base in Nanyuki so that they could catch up before Shanice’s birthday. Syombua, Shanice and Michael went missing on October 26, one day after visiting the soldier at his workplace in Nanyuki. Their three bodies were found tied with ropes, stuffed in gunny bags and buried in a shallow grave in Kilimo in Thingithu.
