Police officers in Mwea East, Kirinyaga county, are looking for a man believed to have murdered his lover before burying her body in a shallow grave under their bed in Thiba North village.
The body of the 44-year-old woman identified as Joyce Nginya was discovered on Thursday, four days after she went missing.
Mwea-west Sub-county Deputy Police Commander Sammy Beauttah confirmed the incident, saying the woman is believed to have been murdered on Sunday night.
The police boss said the family had earlier reported to Kiamaciri Police station that their kin was missing.
After visiting the home of the deceased, police said they spotted signs of struggle in the room and later discovered a shallow grave under the woman’s bed.
“The matter was reported by the family members at Kiamaciri Police station and after visiting the house we found the victim’s body… Joyce Nginya was buried in a shallow grave and that was when we started the process of exhuming the body after a court order from Baricho Law Courts,” the police boss said.
The deceased’s sister Jane Njeru said the woman had been selling miraa at Thiba shopping centre and the motive for the killing remains unclear.
Jane said she had not met the man linked to the killing, adding that at the time of the sister’s death, she was a single mother after separating from her husband in 2011.
“I don’t know the man, I only know the former husband whom they separated in 2011 and he is also here,” Jane added.
The suspected killer hails from Murang’a county.
The body of the deceased was taken to Kerugoya Hospital mortuary pending autopsy.
