Man dies after wife allegedly sets him on fire in Murang’a

Residents of Mumbi estate in Murang’a Town stand outside the house in which a woman allegedly killed her husband after setting him on fire. The woman died at Murang'a District Hospital on March 8, 2016, two days after killing her husband. PHOTO | MARTIN MWAURA | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • Ms Mary Kabura is said to have splashed kerosene onto her husband, Mr Samuel Kimani, while he was asleep in the bedroom.
  • Mr Joseph Muiruri, a neighbour and the first one to respond, said the couple frequently quarrelled.
  • It is suspected she had attempted to take her own life after consuming some pesticide.
  • Mr Kibe said they came across a note written by the woman and addressed to the family.

A man died Sunday after his wife allegedly set him on fire their house in Mumbi Estate, near Murang’a Town.

Ms Mary Kabura is said to have splashed kerosene onto her husband, Mr Samuel Kimani, while he was asleep in the bedroom.

She allegedly locked the bedroom and ran away.

The couple’s children, a nine-year-old girl and her two-year-old brother were also left in the house.

Neighbours who broke down the door to the house found children, who were unharmed, screaming in the sitting room.

Mr Joseph Muiruri, a neighbour and the first one to respond, said the couple frequently quarrelled.

The man and his wife were said to have engaged in a serious argument early in the morning, before the woman set her husband ablaze.

Mr Muiruri said they heard the couple quarrelling and around 3am as the children screamed for help, saying their father was on fire.

WOMAN MISSING

When the residents responded, they found the man dead and the woman missing.

They rescued the two children and took them to a neighbour’s house.

“The backdoor was not locked but the bedroom door was tightly locked. After breaking into the room, we saw him lying on the floor, dead,” said Mr Muiruri.

The police arrived around 4am and took the body to the Murang’a County mortuary.

Mr Kimani’s brother, Mr Francis Kibe, said the couple had a long-standing domestic dispute during their nine-year marriage.

“We had come from a ceremony involving the payment of bride price in Kandara, and I had dropped my brother at midnight, only to be called two hours later over the sad news,” said Mr Kibe.

Neighbours searched for the woman suspected of setting the fire and found her unconscious in bush, about 300 metres away from the house, at 6am.

It is suspected she had attempted to take her own life after consuming some pesticide.

Mr Kibe said they came across a note written by the woman and addressed to the family.

In the note, she said she was not ready to see her husband marry another woman or her children brought up by another woman.