Police are searching for a woman believed to have torched more than 20 houses in Kibera, Nairobi, on Monday night over what neighbours call a lesbian love triangle.

According to residents, the woman caught her partner having sex with another woman in their house. A fight ensued.

She allegedly attacked her partner with a hammer as the other woman fled.

The woman left her 23-year-old partner, whom we cannot name for legal reasons, with serious head injuries. She was rushed to a nearby hospital by her father.

The arsonist reportedly took a bag with her to an unknown location and went back to torch their house using petrol.

The fire quickly spread, razing neighbouring houses at around 8pm.

Residents were unable to save their belongings and were forced to spend nights in the cold. Others sought to refuge with neighbours.

The Nairobi fire rescue team arrived at the scene and put the fire.

A single mother of five, yesterday said that the fire had caused a huge loss to her family as she was unable to seek refuge.

She was left with no option but to sleep out in the cold with her children.

“My children are unable to go to school. Everything that I owned is now in ashes. I would like the police to come and intervene. We have nowhere to go,” she said.

It is alleged that the two women were 'married' and the arsonist had taken dowry to the other woman's parents.

The injured woman's father, however, denied claims that the two were married and had taken dowry to them.

“I always see them together but I have never thought that the two were a couple. I simply saw them as ordinary friends. I, therefore, do not know what they are talking about,” her father said.

Gay sex and, of course, gay marriage, is illegal in Kenya.

The injured woman's mother declined to comment.

It is reported that the arsonist is a foreigner but her nationality is not known.

Neighbours told the Star that they would not want the women back, saying their behaviour would undermine the morals of minors.

“Everyone sees what they do, they kiss in public without caring about their surroundings and they touch hands. Innocent children here will start imitating them and that will be very wrong,” a resident said.

A police officer who sought anonymity yesterday told the Star that they tried to get statements from the victims so they can issue an arrest warrant and try to gather more evidence.

But no one has gone to the station to record a statement.

“We are really trying to get to the bottom of all this and commence our investigations but we cannot do it if the family and residents refuse to record statements,” the officer said.

On June 15, two suspected lesbians from Thika town were dragged by an angry mob to a local police station after they were spotted kissing passionately in public at Thika Arcade.

The two told the police that they were in love and in a serious relationship; they claimed they were married.

These incidents come just a few weeks after the Kenyan High Court declared gay sex illegal.

The case was filed in court in 2016 by three Kenyan gay rights organisations asking judges to declare section 162 (a) and (c) and section 165 of the Penal Code unconstitutional.

-The Star