Kitui man who nearly killed for love to spend 35 years in jail

A man from Kitui who was convicted in 2013 for almost killing a woman who declined his advances will serve a 35-year jail term after his appeal was dismissed.

Musyimi Ndava nearly killed a woman who declined his romantic advances and goodies he had bought to woo her.

Court of Appeal judges Milton Asike-Makhandia, Agnes Murgor and James Otieno-Odek ruled that the 35-year sentence handed to Ndava in 2014 was appropriate.

Ndava visited Elizabeth Mueni Mwangangi on July 25, 2012 at her home in Migwani, Kitui County carrying a sack.

GOODIES

After Ms Mwangangi welcomed him to her house, Ndava emptied the sack and placed a kilogramme of rice, 400 grams of sugar, milk and cooking fat on a table.

He confessed his love to the woman and said he had been meaning to visit her.

But Ms Mwangangi warded off his advances and refused to accept the items, then asked Ndava to leave her house.

PANGA ATTACK

Ndava then removed a panga and attacked the woman, fracturing her temporal bone (at the base of her skull), cut off her thumb, leaving her with deep cuts on her head, shoulder, nose, upper limbs and neck.

“I declined the items he had brought and requested him to leave. I stood up and went to open the door for him. I didn’t know he was armed and all of sudden I felt a panga cutting me on the right side of the head above the ear,” Ms Mwangangi said in court.

Ndava never uttered a word as he hacked Ms Mwangangi to near death.

As Ms Mwangangi tried to open a window of her house, realised that her thumb was gone. She then called for help from her neighbour identified as Mr Makau.

COLLAPSED

As Mr Makau was making his way to her house, she managed to open the door using her elbows but collapsed immediately after.

Neighbours helped take Ms Mwangangi to Kitui District Hospital where she was admitted for treatment.

But during trial, Ndava denied being in Ms Mwangangi’s house and claimed that the accusations were as a result of a grudge she held against him.

He insisted that he went straight home after work.

35 YEARS IN JAIL

Senior Resident Magistrate Victor Otieno found Ndava guilty of the crime in 2013 and sentenced him to 35 years in prison.

Ndava appealed the decision at the High Court, claiming that his identification at the scene of the crime was not positive.

But the Garissa High Court dismissed the appeal, holding that the two knew each other before the assault, hence Ms Mwangangi was in a position to identify her attacker.

And last week, the Court of Appeal judges held that the evidence against Ndava was overwhelming and there was no reason to interfere with his 35-year sentence handed to him for the offence.