My husband cut off my hands and threw a spear at me because I overstayed at a funeral - Kuria woman (Photo)

Piece by: Grace Kerongo
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A woman from Tarang’anya village in Kuria West sub-county is calling for justice after her husband chopped off her left hand for taking long at a funeral ceremony.

Maria Rioba Musa, 50, a mother of nine was attacked using a panga and a spear by her husband Musa Matiko Gisiri on Thursday night.

Despite committing the heinous assault, Gisiri is still walking free as the matter is yet to be reported to police because the woman is in hospital.

“I left for a funeral on Monday at one of our in-law's homestead, we thought the burial was to take place on that day but it delayed until Wednesday. That was the cause of the problem,” Maria said.

When the Star visited her on Saturday, she had just left the surgical theatre and was recovering from anaesthesia after a second surgery.

“When I came back home on Thursday I prepared supper but when my husband came back home he started attacking me,” she narrates.

She said the man chopped off her hand and his attempt to cut the other failed as the panga did not slice through the middle of her palm. Doctors at the hospital are trying to save her right hand.

Her husband also cut her on her forehead and threw a spear through her stomach.

She said her husband, his brother and other family members left her bleeding in the homestead and it was only her relatives who rushed her to hospital.

“They refused to report the matter to the police, I passed out and only came around to the hospital after my brother’s son took me here,” she said.

She called on police to arrest her husband “and let him also feel the pain I am feeling and the disability I'll deal with.”

Her daughter Catherine Musa a first-year student at Msomi TTC said her mother was the sole breadwinner for her and eight other siblings, five who are in high school and colleges.

“My mother had to remain at the funeral until burial because it is our custom, we are now facing a bleak future as she was our main breadwinner,” Catherine said.

She said she was called from school that her mother was left for dead, and has been nursing her at the hospital ever since.

Migori police commander Joseph Nthenge said the matter is yet to be officially reported at any police station and was only alerted when the Star called him.

“We can’t investigate a case when there are no complainants, the family had decided to keep it away but we will ensure justice prevails,” he said.

He said already police and public administration have been alerted to ensure investigations commence.

-The Star/ Manuel Ondeny