This archive report was first published on 3 November 2021.
Busia County Teaching and Referral Hospital has been left reeling after a 22-year-old woman was brutally attacked by her estranged husband, leaving her fighting for her life.
Janet Auma, 22, was allegedly attacked by her husband Bernard Ouma on November 2, after a domestic dispute. According to her mother, Modesta Awino, the couple had been experiencing marital problems since Auma moved in with Ouma two years ago, when she was just 20 years old.
"Their marriage flew into headwinds just months after they started living together. We have tried telling her to quit the relationship but our pleas have fallen on deaf ears," Ms Owino told The Standard at the county hospital where her daughter is admitted in critical condition.
It is alleged that Ouma followed his wife to her parents' home and attacked her before fleeing using a motorcycle. He is also said to have slashed her on the thighs and head with a machete he was armed with.
"I heard Auma screaming. I rushed to where she was picking firewood and found her lying in a pool of blood, unconscious. Her hands had been chopped off and she was bleeding profusely. The left hand lay beside her and the other one had been chopped into pieces. I saw her husband escape on a motorcycle. I saw him. He was still holding the machete he used to attack my daughter. He wanted to kill her," Owino claimed.
Police have launched investigations into the incident and are following crucial leads. Bumala sub-county police commander Jacob Chelimo called on the public to volunteer information that will lead to the arrest of the suspected attacker.
"We are doing everything possible to have him arrested and be prosecuted,” said Mr Chelimo.
