Piece by: CYRUS OMBATI

19 December 2022

• Khan was fighting for his life at the High Dependency Unit at the Avenue Hospital in Nairobi following the domestic spat, which led to the arrest of Maxine.

• According to Adil, his brother was injured by Maxine after she allegedly returned home drunk from a dinner party she had attended.

Detectives are consulting on what they will do next after rally driver Asad Khan died Sunday at Avenue Hospital, Nairobi.

The officers handling the case said they were waiting for directions from the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions to know how they will handle the deceased’s girlfriend and fellow driver Maxine Wahome.

This is because Maxine is out on a Sh100,000 cash bail following a court order and is supposed to report to the police on Thursday, December 22 for further grilling.

“We have sought the ODPP’s direction following the new developments. We were initially handling a case of causing bodily harm and now the victim has died hence the need for a new word,” said one of the investigators.

Khan died about six days after his admission at the Avenue hospital after he lost blood following the injuries sustained in his Kileleshwa house after an altercation with his girlfriend Maxine.

Maxine is also a rally driver. The family and police said Khan was fighting for his life at the High Dependency Unit at the Avenue Hospital in Nairobi following the domestic spat, which led to the arrest of Maxine.

Adil said his brother lost a lot of blood after the brutal assault on Jamhuri Day, December 12 morning.

According to Adil, his brother was injured by Maxine after she allegedly returned home drunk from a dinner party she had attended.

Maxine told police Khan was injured in an altercation with her after she came home late in the morning. She added he broke a window pane that injured him in the ankle as she hid on a balcony.

She is the daughter of another motorsport legend, Jimmy Wahome, and she rose through the motoring ranks to become the first Kenyan woman to score points in the World Rally Championship-supported junior category when she won the WRC3 category for drivers aged 27 and below in June this year behind the wheel of a Ford Fiesta R3.

The police were asking the court to detain her for 14 days, saying Khan is still unconscious and in critical condition at the high-dependency unit.

Police said they needed to find whether there were accomplices so that they could be arrested, obtain call data from their mobile phones for analysis and conduct DNA tests of the blood samples.

Her lawyer Andrew Musangi said in a statement she is not an accused person and “has not been charged with any offence nor has any accusation been made against her”.

“She is only being held to assist with investigations, which she has agreed to willingly do,” Musangi said.

“In this regard, she has from the word go agreed to assist investigations in all aspects, including surrendering aces to the apartment and all mobile communication devices.”

He added Maxine did not leave the house she shared with Asad until the police arrived, and gave them full access to the house after briefing them with her version of what had happened.

“We informed the court that the injury was self-inflicted when the injured person attempted to kick a window in order to gain access to the balcony where Maxine had taken refuge. It shattered but he suffered a severe cut wound, which bled significantly leading to his hospitalisation.”

“Unfortunately the injured person is not conscious and therefore is unable to confirm the events of that morning himself, but we are confident that upon his full recovery the facts will be verified,” he added before Khan passed on.

He said Maxine will continue to assist the investigating authorities in the meantime but she ought not to be deprived of her freedom when there are no compelling or plausible reasons to keep her in custody.