Gang kills househelp in children’s presence

Two children aged four and two remained locked in their house for about two hours with the body of their househelp.

Their caretaker, Ms Celestine Juma, 17, had been brutally murdered by gangsters.

This happened on Wednesday evening in Ruai, Nairobi.

Nairobi County police commander Benson Kibue on Thursday said that three armed men stormed the home of Mr Collins Odhiambo in Ruai’s Chokaa area as the househelp and the children were entering the gate.

The gang forced them into the house and took household goods, among them two gas cylinders, TV set, and a radio. They then broke into the bedroom and stole Sh36,000.

They shot the househelp twice before leaving. Neighbours said the gangsters left in a white car.

Police found a bullet that had hit the wall and also two spent cartridges in the house.

Mr Kibue said that Ms Juma may have been killed because she tried to protect her employer’s property. The murder comes barely a week after another in nearby Kayole.

TORN SHIRT

The police boss said there was blood in the sitting and dining rooms. “She was lying on the floor holding a torn piece of a blood-stained shirt. It was torn indicating that there could have been a struggle,” said Mr Kibue.

Ms Juma had been left in the house with a two-year old girl since the first born had gone to school.

The victim’s brother, Maurice Odongo, went to the home at around 7.30pm and when he rang the bell, the boy opened the gate and informed her that the househelp was sleeping on the floor and was bleeding.

Mr Odongo told Nation that he found his sister on the floor with gunshot wounds on the chest and the head. The children were staring at her body.