Police in Kiambu have launched investigations into the macabre murder of a 71-year-old woman whose lifeless body was found lying inside her house in Escarpment village in Lari constituency.
The investigators told the media that they suspect ritual killing since the woman’s head had been chopped off and was unavailable.
Police said the murderers gained access to Leah Mwihaki’s house through the roof, whereby they cut the roofing iron sheets using a panga.
The incident was discovered at dawn by one of her neighbours who had gone to check on her. The said neighbour says she found the windowpanes to her house having been broken.
“One of her friends went to visit her in the morning, but Mwihaki had not woken up,” Winfred Wanja, a resident said.
Lari DCI Eunice Maingi said they have started investigations so as to establish the actual cause of the murder and urged residents to help them with information that may lead to the arrest of the suspects.
“We have launched investigations to establish the motive of the murder and who murdered the woman,” Maingi said.
“We are following some leads, but we are urging residents to help us with any information they may have,” she added.
Residents allege that another old woman was saved by neighbours.
“We heard people in our grandmother’s home. We suspected they wanted to steal her sheep and we came out to check, but we heard them running away,” Bedan Njenga stated.
“We didn’t sleep again. We were shocked to learn about the murder of Mwihaki in the morning,” he added.
Sub-county community policing chairman Njoroge Kamande has condemned the incident.
“We wonder how her neighbours couldn’t her house being broken into. The murderers broke the glasses, and hit several times on the iron sheet before gaining access,” he noted.
Lari Kirenga MCA Josphat Kinyanjui said he will lay a strategy with police, area chief and Nyumba kumi officials so as to beef up security.
Kinyanjui described the incident as a heartless act done to an old poor woman.
A resident Simon Mwangi said in 2015, another incident was witnessed where a woman was attacked by thugs, raped and her head chopped off in the same village.
Area MP Mburu Kahangara sent a message of condolences to the family urging the police and the DCI to dig deeper into the murder.
The legislator said he has not taken the issue lightly, urging the DCI to investigate the motive of the murder.
“The is so ugly, we could not believe it. This is sad. We also heard that there is another old woman who was also a target, we need thorough investigation so as to establish why are these people targeting old women” he told PD online via the phone.
The MP also urged the police service to add more police officers at the Escarpment location so that they may help in patrolling the area both during the day and at night.
