Police search for suspect who gouged out Mwende's eye
Stella Mwende whose right eye was gouged out by a man after she refused to be his lover. PHOTO | KEVIN ODIT | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
Mr Odhiambo, 28, had been charged with causing grievous harm and wounding Ms Stella Mwende, 43.
Ms Mwende said she had rejected Mr Odhiambo's advances for a relationship.
Mr Odhiambo was frequent visitor to Ms Mwende's roadside kiosk where she sold food.
Pressure has mounted on the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) officers in Mombasa following the release of a suspect who gouged out the eye of a woman.
The suspect, Mr Victor Odhiambo, was released by a Mombasa court after the prosecution withdrew his case because police officers did not produce his file.
"The DCI officer in charge of Mombasa is the one who is facing the wrath of the DPP. He has been under pressure and has since started a new search for the suspect," said a highly-placed source.
The source claims that the suspect has connections in the police service and that a relative played a role in his role and subsequent travel to Nyanza, where he is suspected to be hiding.
Following reports of his release, Mr Haji piled pressure on the DCI officers and the prosecution in Mombasa.
ASSAULT
Mr Odhiambo, 28, had been charged with causing grievous harm and wounding Ms Stella Mwende, 43, but was freed on May 30, this year.
His arrest was ordered by the Director of Public Prosecution Noordin Haji and Director of Criminal Investigations George Kinoti.
He was accused of assaulting Ms Mwende after she allegedly spurned him.
Mr Odhiambo had earlier been tracked to Nairobi where he was arrested and taken to Mombasa to face the charges only for him to be released later.
He pleaded not guilty and was remanded.
FILE MISSING
The case was set for hearing on May 28, but when it came up the prosecution said it had not received the police file and the court gave another hearing date of May 30.
In what appeared to be laxity by the police in pursuing the case, when the matter came up again on May 30, the prosecution said the file had not been placed before the court and ordered the case withdrawn.
Ms Mwende had her right eye gouged out on December 15, 2018, when Mr Odhiambo visited her home in Ganjoni, Mombasa.
The attacker also cut her face, leaving her with a permanent scar.
ODHIAMBO'S FIXATION
Mr Odhiambo, a scrap metal dealer, is said to have been a regular customer of Ms Mwende’s roadside food kiosk.
To the mother of two boys, he was just a customer but Mr Odhiambo had been harbouring other intentions and wanted her to be his lover.
“He had been asking me to be in a relationship with him but I had turned down his requests on several occasions. I had told him that I was like a mother to him but he persisted,” said Ms Mwende.
On December 12, two days before Ms Mwende had her eye gouged out, her face and her back slashed, she had been looking for a person who would help her put up a temporary shade at her eatery.
Mr Odhiambo offered to help and brought a machete to dig up the ground where the structure would be erected.
“He did not finish the job that day and he had promised to come back. But he did not show up and asked me to keep his panga well,” she said.
On the fateful day, Mr Odhiambo who was visibly drunk when he went to take back his machete from Ms Mwende.
After the attack, Ms Mwende reported the incident to Central Police Station, Mombasa under OB No. 88/17/12/2018.
She spent a week at the Coast General Hospital nursing her injuries.
