Police in Kitui on Wednesday arrested a 19-year-old man who allegedly slashed his newly married 18-year-old wife to death with a panga.

The incident took place Katithini village in Misewani sublocation of Kitui Central subcounty on Tuesday night. Kitui Central sub-county police boss Sicily Gatiti confirmed the brutal killing.

She gave the name of the alleged murder suspect as John Mutinda and the murdered woman is Ciiru Murimi. Gatiti said the motive of the murder was unknown but police were holding the alleged killer as investigations got underway.

She said when the police got the report about the murder at around 1 am on Tuesday night, they visited the scene and recovered a bloodied panga that was used in the killing. She said the police took the body to the Kitui Hospital morgue.

Villagers who reported the incident to the assistant chief for Misewani Musili Moki, who in turn alerted the police, said the young couple was newly married.

On Tuesday night they were engaged in a quarrel that resulted in the man killing the spouse.

Other uncorroborated reports indicated the family of the woman was not aware of her whereabouts because she was married while on her way from Embu to a secondary school in Kitui.