Nairobi News

NewsWhat's Hot

Man commits suicide after hacking wife and thinking she was dead – PHOTOS


A man committed suicide by hanging himself after hacking his wife with a machete in Ihithe, Nyeri County following a quarrel.

The morning incident is said to have been triggered by a quarrel between the couple when 58 year-old Maina Gitonga attacked his wife, Susan Wanjiku, with a machete.

He then proceeded to hang himself in their bedroom thinking his wife had died.

At the home, the well-furnished house of the couple was locked as locals peered through the windows trying to catch a glimpse of the aftermath of the attack.

The tiled floor stained with fresh blood only told a story of the gory attack.

On one of the sofas in the living room lay a freshly sharpened panga. A few metres from it an axe lay on the floor.

Residents of Ihithe village in Nyeri county mourn after a man hanged himself moments after he had hacked his wife on February 12, 2018. The wife is in critical condition. PHOTO | JOSEPH KANYI
Residents of Ihithe village in Nyeri county mourn after a man hanged himself moments after he had hacked his wife on February 12, 2018. The wife is in critical condition. PHOTO | JOSEPH KANYI

For the couple, Monday was supposed to be a normal day as they prepared to spend their day in their farm harvesting fodder for their animals.

The deceased even went to his mother’s house and borrowed a machete, a gunny bag and a rope. He then sent his son to have the panga sharpened. This would be the weapon he used to attack his wife.

Moments later neighbours were drawn to the house by screams of the woman. She was found lying in a pool of blood on their bedroom floor. Maina’s body was dangling by on a rope from a truss.

“Everyone else went about their business as usual. I was grazing my cows when a friend came to me and told me to come home quickly because there has been a murder in my son’s house,” Mr Danson Gitonga, father of the deceased said.

By the time he got home a large crowd had milled around the house each trying to piece together what had transpired.

“There was a lot of blood in the house. Those who responded first said they rushed Wanjiku to hospital. I assumed my son was among those who took her to hospital,” Mr Gitonga recalled.

“I was shocked to see a body being carried out (by crime scene detectives) because in my mind I knew Wanjiku had been taken to hospital. They later told me that my son hanged himself after attacking his wife,” he added.

Mzee Danson Gitonga, father of the deceased, talks to journalists. PHOTO | JOSEPH KANYI
Mzee Danson Gitonga, father of the deceased, talks to journalists. PHOTO | JOSEPH KANYI

The couple are said to have had marital problems for a long time which escalated in December when the woman left their matrimonial home. Relatives said that she left after her husband had tried to attack her with an axe following a quarrel.

Although they had arguments in the past, the quarrels had never turned violent.

“They used to quarrel a lot but never fought physically. We even tried talking to them,” the deceased’s father said.

The woman was taken to Outspan Hospital in Nyeri where she was admitted in critical condition.

Medics at the hospital said that she had been treated for deep cuts and was in stable condition.

Tetu Divisional Police Commander Job Lesikinwa said that the specific motive behind the attack has not been identified yet.

“We are still piecing up the evidence and what we have at the time is that they had marital issues. The specific motive has not come out clearly yet,” the police boss said.