Police in Murang'a are holding a 39-year-old man for allegedly stabbing his lover to death on Thursday morning.
Elijah Muthie Njanja reportedly stabbed 44-year-old Lucy Wanjiru to death after an argument in an incident that left the residents of Mukuyu area in shock and disbelief.
Murang’a County Police Commander David Mathiu said Wanjiru was stabbed severally during the incident which occurred at around 3am in a house that the two were sharing.
"The two had returned home late and started quarreling in their rented house," he said.
"The victim arrived at the house around midnight and the man followed her two hours later and an argument followed,” Mathiu added.
The victim's screams prompted the deceased’s daughter to raise the alarm and a group of neighbours responded.
But by the time they managed to break a window to the house, Wanjiru had already suffered injuries and was lying in a pool of blood.
Muthie was also lying on the floor in what the police termed as feigned unconsciousness to avoid the wrath of members of the public.
"The daughter told our officers that the two had locked themselves in their bedroom before the fight began,” he said.
The two met while working in a local hotel and started living together before the deceased left and sought employment elsewhere.
John Njoroge, a neighbour, told the Star that the two had met in a bar in Mukuyu market.
Njoroge said the man found his lover drinking in the company of other men and was outraged but when he confronted her, Wanjiru slapped him, prompting him to leave the bar in a huff.
Mathiu said the suspect used a kitchen knife to stab his lover whose body had deep stab wounds on the chest and at the back of her head.
He explained that the suspect had been staying with the victim for some time and that the two had persistent domestic wrangles that were at times resolved with the help of local administrators.
Though living together, the police boss added that preliminary investigations showed that the couple was not married but were just lovers.
The suspect is undergoing medical attention at Murang’a Level 5 Hospital and will be charged with murder once he is discharged.
The body of the victim was taken to the hospital’s mortuary for postmortem.
The kitchen knife that is believed to have been used by the suspect to stab the deceased was retrieved from the scene of crime and will be used as evidence.
Mathiu appealed to members of the public to embrace non-violent ways of conflict resolution and expressed concern over increased cases of murder in families.
The two, Mathiu noted, had been advised to go their separate ways due to their wrangles but they opted to continue living together.
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