Sorrow as varsity students bid farewell to slain Ivy Wangechi – VIDEO
A sombre mood engulfed the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital (MTRH) in Eldoret as dozens of students bade farewell to their slain colleague, Ms Ivy Wangechi.
They were overcome with grief upon viewing the body of the sixth year student, who was brutally murdered by Mr Naftali Kinuthia in broad daylight on Tuesday.
One by one, the students wept as they embraced each another in their shared loss. Some were too shocked that they had to be supported by colleagues.
They had earlier marched beside the hearse carrying the body from the adjacent MTRH mortuary to the laboratory, where the viewing was done.
The body was later transferred to Kenyatta University Referral Hospital morgue.
‘WAITING FOR ANSWERS’
They were led by the Dean, School of Medicine, Prof Lukoye Atwoli, who said the varsity community was still “waiting for answers as to why this happened”.
“We gathered today to bid farewell to our colleague, our sister and our daughter. We congregated with her family, students, staff, doctors to bid her farewell here but we will be joining the family as they make funeral arrangements. The School community is still heartbroken.
“We are still waiting to get answers as to why this happened. We wish the family strength and we hope we have strength ourselves to deal with this tragic event,” said Prof Atwoli. The students held a vigil for Ms Wangechi on Wednesday night. In Thika, Mrs Nancy Kinuthia, the assailant’s mother, looked disturbed, still perturbed by the news of her son’s brutal act.
Mrs Kinuthia said she could not stop thinking about what might have driven him to commit such a heinous crime.
“When I heard the news, I could not understand how my son could have done such a thing. We have never had issues with him. He is not a violent person. Even if you ask around, you will be told the same. I do not understand what happened, why he did it,” she said.
EMOTIONAL PAIN
The thoughts and questions have caused her emotional pain.
“I have not eaten since the news of what my son did broke. I am just praying and asking myself lots of questions,” she said.
The stories being shared on social media, and about which journalists have been following, have also taken a toll on her.
“I have being telling the truth since the incident happened. I have not denied that he did what he did,” Mrs Kinuthia said, adding that she had left all with God.
“There is nothing much I can do apart from praying and waiting upon God. My daughter has called me a few minutes ago to comfort me. She told me she also believes that her brother was not himself when he did that and asked me to accept it,” she said.