This archive report was first published on 19 June 2020.
On June 13, 2020, a horrific incident occurred in Makueni County, Kenya, where a 24-year-old woman, Purity Muthoki, was brutally attacked by her estranged husband, Boniface Mutua. The incident has left Muthoki with severe injuries, including the amputation of her arms.
According to Muthoki, she was in an 'extremely abusive' marriage that lasted for three years. She revealed that her husband would frequently physically assault her, and she had to endure the pain for three years, hoping that he would change.
However, Muthoki's father, Julius Makau, is now being blamed for her ordeal. Muthoki claims that her father was in communication with her estranged husband, trying to convince her to return to her marital home. She said that every time she returned home after being assaulted by her husband, her father would urge her to return to her matrimonial home.
On the fateful night of June 13, 2020, Muthoki's husband arrived at her in-laws' place and met her father. They talked for some time, and Muthoki's father instructed her husband to spend the night in one of the rooms. However, a few hours later, Muthoki's husband descended from the roof, locked her door, and attacked her with a machete, slashing her 31 times.
Muthoki's screams attracted the neighbors' attention, who rushed to the scene and stoned her husband to death. The police took his body to the Tawa Sub-County Hospital morgue.
Since the incident, Makueni Governor Prof. Kivutha Kibwana and his deputy Adelina Mwau have visited Muthoki in hospital and expressed their concern over the violence against women in the county. The governor has directed the gender unit in Makueni to closely monitor Muthoki's welfare.
