4 held over murder of teenage girl in Eastleigh, Nairobi

A screen grab of Asmahan Abdisalan who was killed in a house in Eastleigh, Nairobi. PHOTO | COURTESY

What you need to know:

  • The suspects include the girl’s aunt in whose house she was living.

  • Her aunt, 29-year-old Nadhifa Mohammed, was arrested on Sunday and arraigned at the Makadara Law Courts on Monday.

  • Three other suspects— Bahsan Abdi Salad, Rahma Abdi Ali and Hawa Ibrahim Salad— were arrested on Wednesday.

  • Police suspect the girl was tortured to death as her body had deep cuts on her thighs and forehead as well as burns possibly caused by acid.

Four suspects are in police custody over suspected link to the brutal murder of a teenage girl at her aunt’s house in Eastleigh estate, Nairoibi.

One of the suspects is the girl’s aunt in whose house she was living.

Mystery still surrounds the death of the minor identified as Asmahan Abdisalan, whose body was found with deep cuts on her thighs and forehead as well as burns possibly caused by acid. 

Police arraigned the aunt, 29-year-old Nadhifa Mohammed, at Makadara Law Courts on Monday following her arrest on Sunday.

The three other suspects— Bahsan Abdi Salad, Rahma Abdi Ali and Hawa Ibrahim Salad— were arrested on Wednesday and are set to be arraigned on Thursday.

SUSPICIOUS ACTIVITIES

Neighbours alleged the aunt used to lock her up in a one-bedroom house during the day and kept to a minimal the girl’s interaction with others.

At night, neighbours say there was usually commotion in the house and Ms Mohamed used to burn scented wood to get rid of the smell of shisha that visitors smoked.

The nature of the visitors and the business they undertook in the house at night is still a puzzle police are trying to unravel.

TIP-OFF

“A whistle-blower followed the three to the mosque and confronted them and told the mosque attendants not to touch the body,” said Ms Florence Kinyua, a human right’s activist.

Police say they received a tip-off from a mosque in South C estate where the girl’s body had been taken for preparation and prayers ahead of burial in line with Islamic rituals.

Police had to intervene to stop the authorised burial and results of an autopsy conducted on Monday at the City Mortuary have not yet been released.

But police have been given 14 days to detain the suspects pending conclusion of their investigations.