Former Riruta MCA Samuel Ndung’u was charged in a Kiambu court on Friday with the torture-murder of his 24-year-old wife.

Ndung’u was arrested after Susan Njambi reported he and other two men assaulted and raped her, then doused her face with acid. She sustained more than 70 per cent burns. Njambi said they had picked her from her home in Thindigua Estate in Kiambu town.

The mother of a four-year-old boy was later abandoned at an isolated coffee farm near Kamiti Corner along the Kiambu-Ruiru road. She crawled to the main road, where good Samaritans took her to Kiambu police and later to Kiambu Level-Five Hospital. She died at KNH.

Appearing before High Court judge Joel Ngugi, he was accused of killing Susan Njambi on January 24 in Thindigua Estate, Kiambu. He was charged with others not before the court. She was raped, doused with acid, forced to drink a corrosive substance and left for dead.

Ndung’u pleaded not guilty and requested to be freed on bond. The prosecution opposed his release. It said Ndung’u might interfere with witnesses, who are close family members of the deceased.

Lawyer Ndegwa Njiru said if freed he would make “the victims apprehensive when testifying against him”.

But Ndung’u’s lawyer Robert Mutito said he has been cooperative since January 24, when he was arrested. Ndung’u hasn’t interfered with police probe or family members, he said.

Ndung’u asked that he be detained in Kiambu police cells, where it would be convenient for him to get medication because he has asthma.

Judge Ngugi ruled, however, that he be remanded at the Nairobi Remand Home and provided with medical attention. He scheduled bond terms hearing for February 19 and told the prosecution to file witness affidavits about their protection, and serve the defence within three days.