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How fugitive Makueni wife batterer was arrested

August 2nd, 2018 2 min read

By PIUS MAUNDU

When Amos Muthenya saw a strange man pacing Masumba-Muuwani road in Makueni County during his morning errands on Thursday, it did not occur to him that he had come across David Nzomo, the man who had grabbed headlines for savagely assaulting his wife.

The boda boda operator at Nguu area followed his gut feeling and eventually helped the police arrest the man captured on video assaulting his wife.

The short video shows an visibly agitated Mr Nzomo raining blows, kicks and slaps on the defenseless woman as a small crowd pleads with him in Kikamba to reconsider his punishment as it was wrong and could land him in trouble with authorities.

Mr Nzomo, 36, who hails from Muvau area, is well known in the neighboring Nguu area because he used to push cattle through the area from surrounding markets for a fee.

He had accused his wife, Ms Winfred Mwende, a mother of three, of philandering.

“On the three occasions that I rode past him during my errands in the morning, I noticed that he would avoid eye contact as I approached him,” Mr Muthenya told Nation in an interview, noting he found the behavior odd.

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Burning with curiosity, the boda boda operator alerted a friend of his at Muuwani Market and they rode to where the mysterious stranger had been spotted.

“I pounced on him and when we sought to establish if he was indeed David Nzomo he responded in the affirmative,” said Mr Thomas Waita, an electrical technician.

They frogmarched Nzomo to the market where they were momentarily preoccupied with battling a crowd that bayed for his blood.

“Before administrators and the police arrived, we ordered him a cup of tea and chapati at an eatery and, during the meal, he expressed his regret for assaulting his wife,” said Mr Muthenya.

The assault and the apparent inaction by the witnesses has angered Kenyans and has seen the the Director of PublicP (DPP) Noordin Haji order the police to arrest and prosecute Mr Nzomo.

Further, Mr Haji directed that those who watched and participated in the brutality be arrested and arraigned in court too, a position shared locally.

Makueni Woman Representative Rose Museo had accused the police and administrators of laxity, wondering why nothing had been done on the suspect until the video went viral.

HAPLESS WOMAN

“It means that the administrators in the area were okay with the battering of the hapless woman,” she noted, adding her voice to those calling for the arrest of the man who had gone into hiding.

Makueni County Police Commander Joseph Ole Naipeyan Commissioner had appealed to members of the public to be on the look out for the fugitive.

He said that detectives had been guided by a mobile telephone signal that showed that the suspect was not far from his home.

Mr Nzomo and five witnesses had written statements with the police, said Mr Napeiyan.

The woman was admitted at Makueni County Referral hospital with soft tissue injuries where she was rushed by Good Samaritans as the assailant described by his neighbors and relatives.

Makueni County Referral Hospital superintendent Dr Emmanuel Laiposha on Thursday said that Ms Mwende was out of danger and that she was responding well to treatment.

Meanwhile, the Nation has established that the police are also looking for a man who filmed the 58 second video that was widely broadcasted on social media.