This archive report was first published on 23 August 2020.
On a fateful Saturday night in August 2020, a 22-year-old woman's life hung in the balance at Kenyatta National Hospital after she was brutally shot six times by her boyfriend, Constable David Nyamweya, a police officer stationed in Igembe North, Meru County.
According to eyewitnesses, the officer had excused himself from station guard duties, claiming he needed to pick a jacket from his house. However, he instead traveled to Laare, where he met his girlfriend, sparking a heated quarrel that ended in tragedy.
"The officer said he would come back. He had his full uniform and a gun when he traveled to Laare," a junior police officer who witnessed the incident revealed.
Constable Nyamweya allegedly shot his girlfriend in the stomach and legs before his colleagues intervened and disarmed him. The police subsequently confiscated the pistol and collected eight spent cartridges from the scene.
The woman was initially taken to Meru Level Five hospital before being referred to KNH in Nairobi for further treatment.
Area Deputy County Commissioner Charles Langat confirmed the shooting, while area police boss Apolo Busolo declined to comment on whether the officer was arrested after being disarmed.
The woman's distraught family and friends stormed Laare Police Station to demand justice, with her father expressing shock and outrage over the incident.
"She said the man had been beating her and was unhappy in the relationship. I talked to them and they reconciled. The two had visited my home and I had agreed to their relationship. I didn't expect it to result in this. I want justice for my daughter," the woman's father said.
