How my pregnant wife was kidnapped, killed and body dumped in Machakos
A family was on Sunday struggling to come to terms with the gruesome killing of an eight-month pregnant woman who was kidnapped in Nairobi, and her body found dumped in Machakos.
Ms Irene Nzisa was picked from her house in Tassia by unknown people on Wednesday last week. Her body would be discovered the following day near her rural home in Maiani, Masii.
STAB WOUNDS
It had been dumped by the road and bore several stab wounds. Two cans of pesticide were found next to the body that was discovered by children on their way to school.
Her husband, Mr Francis Musembi narrated that on the fateful day, his wife had arrived from work at around 5.30pm before she and their three-year-old son stepped out of the house.
“I arrived back home around 8.30pm and found no one in the sitting room. I could, however, hear the maid doing some work in the kitchen. I sat on the couch and relaxed,” says Mr Musembi.
The TV was on, showing his wife’s favourite movie. Mr Musembi paused it and called the house help. He asked her where his wife and son were. She said she did not know.
GUARDS ON THE DOOR
Moments later, two security guards knocked on the door, one of them carrying his son.
“They asked me if the child was mine and I sensed something was amiss,” says Mr Musembi. “My wife would never leave our child alone. I asked the boy where his mother was and he said he had left her in a car driven by ‘auntie’.”
The child was found at the main gate to Tassia estate by the guards, who asked him to direct them to his parents’ house.
“I fed and bathed him and put him to bed, then I went out to look for my wife,” says Mr Musembi.
He assumed his son had slipped away from his mother, and that the mother was probably out there looking for him. It would have been easier, Mr Musembi reasoned, had his wife carried her mobile phone with her, but she had not.
DISAPPEARANCE
At 4am, Mr Musembi reported the disappearance of his wife to Embakasi Police Station, then drove back home.
He spent the next day making frantic calls to friends and relatives, but no one had seen her.
“A neighbour’s house help told me a woman had on Wednesday asked whether Irene was around. The house help said she had earlier met the woman at the parking lot, and that the woman had asked her whether Irene lived in the estate. She directed the woman to our house,” said Mr Musembi.
Strangely, even after being directed to the house, the woman left the estate. Mr Musembi said he suspected the woman was behind the killing of his wife.
On Friday, after visiting hospitals and police stations in Nairobi, Mr Musembi received the call he most dreaded: a pregnant woman had been found dead at Masii and her body was at the Machakos Level 5 Hospital mortuary.
CRUCIAL LEADS
Embakasi deputy criminal investigations boss Peter Kimulwo said investigations into the murder were going on.
“We have found crucial leads that we are following,” he said.
What has puzzled the family is that Ms Nzisa’s body was found next to her maternal uncle’s neighbour’s gate. She was dressed in the same clothes her househelp said she had last seen her wearing.