Residents of Mahinga in Kipipiri Constituency are in shock after a woman and her daughter were killed in a bizarre incident on Friday night.
Ms Damaris Wanjugu, 46, and her 16-year-old daughter Hannah Njeri are believed to have been strangled by their farmhand, who later attempted to commit suicide.
Police suspect the two were killed in a love triangle, a theory they are pursuing in a bid to unravel the killing mystery.
LOVE GONE SOUR
“We have several theories regarding the incident. Initial investigations indicate it was a case of love affairs gone sour,” said a senior officer at the Kipipiri Police Station.
The 23-year-old farmhand is said to have been involved in affairs with both of them, before the mother of the teenager found out and reprimanded him.
First to be killed was Ms Wanjugu, who had accompanied the man to a shamba to fetch hay for the animals kept in the family’s compound.
The man is said to have gone back to the house and lured the daughter to the shamba on the pretext that they wanted to look for Ms Wanjugu, who had delayed coming back, only for him to kill her.
Bodies of the two were found more than one kilometre from their house.
DISPUTED LOVE TRIANGLE
“We have heard of the love triangle claims but we never witnessed such a thing among the three,” said Ms Nancy Njoroge, a relative of Ms Wanjugu.
Ms Njoroge said the family was worried after her sister-in- law failed to turn up at a nearby shopping centre on Saturday to sell milk, among other goods, as she normally did.
“She religiously turned up at the Mahinga trading centre to sell milk,” she said.
When Ms Njoroge went to Ms Wanjugu’s house, she found the door uncharacteristically ajar, with no one in sight.
Alarmed, she informed family members and fellow villagers about the situation, prompting a search for the woman and her daughter. Ms Wanjugu’s body was found near deep gullies within the vast farm around 9am.
ATTEMPTED SUICIDE
Hours later, they were informed that the farmhand had sought assistance at a nearby home after attempting to commit suicide.
They searched for the teenager around the area where the farmhand had sought assistance and stumbled on her body. A piece of nylon sack that was used to strangle her was still tied on the neck. Next to the body was a mobile phone, a can of pesticide and a sharp panga.
Police said the girl was raped before being strangled.
