When domestic feuds turn tragic

An alarm has been raised over the rising cases of domestic violence, with the recent case being that of Ms Jackline Mwende, who is said to have had her hands chopped off by her husband due to inability to bear children.

Mwende is one of the lucky few who have lived to tell their stories. Scores of others have not been as lucky as cases of murders among couples and lovers continue to hit the headlines.

In 2012, in Mombasa’s Bombolulu area, 10 people had been killed in less than six weeks over love triangles.

In one case, an employee of Bandari College was stabbed to death at her place of work.

In the same year in Nyeri, a hotel waiter from Skuta Estate was among many men who claimed they had been battered by their wives.

Mr Kevin Muriuki had sustained injuries after he was attacked by three men allegedly hired by his wife to kill him.

He said they had an argument after his wife found their daughter injured and she blamed him, and that’s why she enlisted the services of the goons.

In September 2013, the sensational case of Faith Wairimu Maina’s plot to kill her husband came to light.

She had suspected her husband of having an extra-marital affair and also bemoaned his neglect.

The husband later forgave her and asked to have all the charges against her dropped.

By November 2015, some 11 people had died after domestic quarrels turned violent.

Half the deaths were attributed to fighting couples while the rest resulted from family feuds.

A 34-year-old man was reported to have beheaded his wife in Naromoru and five days later, another man allegedly slit his wife’s throat.

In January 2016, Ms Fatuma Ibrahim, 32, was flown to Nairobi from Wajir for treatment after her husband thrust a knife in her jaw.

In February, Mr John Wambugu was arrested after a video of him battering his wife went viral on social media. She was six months pregnant.

And Monday afternoon, a woman in Kiambu was arrested after she allegedly stabbed her drunk husband to death.