Police arrest students over killing of schoolgirl

Murang'a County Police Commander Naomi Ichami. FILE PHOTO | NATION MEDIA GROUP

Police arrested and questioned two secondary students on Wednesday over the rape and murder of a Form Two student in Murang’a County.

The two students of St Phillips Gikindu Secondary School in Mathioya constituency are being interrogated following mysterious death of Milcah Muthoni, whose body was found dumped in a thicket, just 500 meters from her grandmother’s home, where she lived.

According to Murang’a County Police Commander Naomi Ichami, the two students in police custody are said to have been the last people seen walking with the deceased home after school at around 5.30pm.

Ms Ichami said the two were picked by police on Tuesday night after Gikindu villagers said they had seen them together.

“The 16-year-old student appears like she was raped before she was murdered and her body thrown in a thicket, the body had bruises in the head an indication that a blunt object was used,” she said.

“We have launched investigations into the matter, to have a clear picture of her last movements,” the police boss added.

According to her family, they got concerned after she failed to show up in the evening and started a search for her.

When they failed to find her, they mounted a search team and at around 10pm and later found her body dumped in the bush.

Mr Eliud Kimani, a brother to the deceased said her school bag was spotted in a thicket 50 metres from where her naked body was.

Her tie was on her neck and her clothes under a tree.

“As a family, we visited all the homesteads in the neighbourhood asking about her whereabouts but to no avail. That is when our neighbours came together,” he said

“After hours of searching, we saw her school bag and noticed blood stains, we followed a path through napier grass and found her body,” added the distraught brother.

Villagers who flocked to comfort and console the family described the deceased as an obedient and an active church member.

Mrs Elizabeth Wanjiku, the deceased’s grandmother said she started living with her grandchild when she was barely five years old.

Seeking justice, she called upon the authorities in Murang’a to search for the killers and bring them to book.

Her body was taken to Kiria-ini funeral home as the two students were locked at Kiria-ini police station for interrogation.