Police officers in Kwanza, Trans Nzoia County have launched a manhunt for a 20-year-old man who is suspected to have stabbed to death a 17- year-old girl.
Reports indicate that the suspect has been cohabiting with the deceased.
The girl, a mother of one, succumbed to stab wounds while undergoing treatment at the Kitale County Referral Hospital.
Confirming the Wednesday night incident, Kwanza Sub County Police Commander James Odera said the two cannot be treated as husband and wife because the girl is a minor.
Odera stated that the young man, a resident of Lurare village in Kapomboi ward is still at large and police are piecing together all the leads that will enable them get hold of him.
“Even if he runs, he will not hide that we can assure members of the public. Ultimately, we shall arrest and arraign him in court to face the law,” Odera said.
The Sub-County police boss further revealed that once the man is arrested, they will prefer either murder or manslaughter charges against him depending on the circumstances that led to the death of the teenager.
Domestic wrangles
He called on parents of the victim and the culprit to volunteer any information that might help hasten the process of access to justice.
In an interview with Uasin Gishu News at Kitale County Referral Hospital morgue, Esther Khayanga, the mother of the deceased said her daughter has been quarrelling with the culprit and that the two had separated.
“The two were having domestic differences. The young man has been assaulting my daughter whenever he is asked where he has been. In fact she had come home and later left and that is when she was stabbed and later died,” Khayanga said.
In addition, the mother narrated that her fourth born daughter who called her twice last night lost a lot of blood after she was stabbed multiple times on the chest.
Caleb Wekesa, brother to the deceased said “While we were watching a football match when I received a call informing that my sister has been killed. I rushed and when I entered the house, she was lying on a pool of blood. I went and reported the incident at a police post.”
“It is very painful to lose one’s sister through such a gruesome manner. We ask the police to help us with investigations so that can get justice,” added Collins Wekesa, and a brother to the deceased.
The incident comes at a time when the World is observing 16 days of activism against Gender Based Violence (GBV).
