There is an uproar in Kihumbu-ini village in Gatanga sub county, Murang’a County after an 80-year- old woman lost her life following a sexual assault ordeal on Saturday night.
Residents said the victim, Lydia Wanjiru Chege, was found writhing in pain in her coffee farm on Sunday morning. The assailants had poured acid on her body, they noted, and severed her private parts with sticks.
They said she had been stripped naked and only covered with a leso when they found her at 6 am.
Racheal Wanjiru said a neighbor came to her home on Sunday 6 am calling for help, saying the granny had been taken from her house.
“We found her in the farm with only a leso covering her. She was bleeding profusely but was able to call out our names,” Wanjiru said.
The neighbours clothed her before rushing her to Thika level 5 hospital where she was admitted but passed away on Monday.
Wanjiru said the entire village is angry with the incident and demanded for speedy investigations to ensure culprits are arrested.
The neighbours pointed an accusing finger at her co-wife who they claimed constantly assaulted her and made her stay at the home difficult.
“She constantly had her house broken into and her windows shattered. Late last year, we had to mobilise local youths to construct her door after someone broke it down,” a neighbor said.
They said they failed to understand why the assailants went to the extent of pouring acid on her body when she was just a harmless granny.
Another neighbor said she called him to install her tank and gutters but that they were later destroyed after the tank filled with water.
They asked the police to solve the case as fast as possible and vowed to take action if the police failed to arrest the co-wife.
Stephen Ng’ang’a said the entire village is now living in fear of attacks against the many elderly women living alone in the area and want the government to arrest the culprits with haste.
“We want the police to investigate and establish the culprits and their motives. If they had been sent by some people, then they should ensure they are also prosecuted,” Ng’ang’a said.
He noted that it is wrong to jump into conclusions before the police conclude their investigations.
Gatanga OCPD Beatrice Muraguri confirmed the incidence noting that that they recorded the victim’s statement before she passed away.
Muraguri said the victim detailed how a man dragged her from her house into her farm late at night and severed her private parts using sticks.
The OCPD said she is now waiting for the post mortem results to establish the cause of her death and ascertain whether acid was poured on her body.
She urged members of the public with information on the incidence to come out and record statements to help in investigations.
“So far, nobody has come out with any information,” she said.
She said the police are exploring both domestic wrangles and normal crime as the motives behind the incident.
Muranguri however cautioned residents against taking the law in their hands, insisting that they will be arrested if they do.
-Alice Waithera