On 21 November 2018, a 14-year-old KCPE candidate, Abigael Namukhosi, died in Bungoma after allegations that she was assaulted by her parents over her examination performance and claims about her boyfriend.
Witnesses in Musangula said the girl had been punished after posting what her parents considered poor results. The same accounts also alleged that her parents accused her of spending Sunday night with her boyfriend, although those claims were not independently verified.
According to the report, Abigael had been sent by her mother, Gertrude Barasa, to deliver money to a relative at Ndalu market on Sunday. She did not return home that night. By Monday, locals said she had come back and was then tied up and beaten.
A neighbour who asked not to be named said she heard screams from the family home. She said Abigael was later taken outside after the beating while it was raining heavily and pleaded with her parents to stop, but they ignored her.
Abigael later used a phone given to her by her mother to call her aunt, Hellen Nafula, for help. Nafula said the girl told her she was dying after being seriously beaten. She added that Gertrude later called her with the news, and that she went to Kiminini Cottage Hospital mortuary to confirm the death.
Police had arrested Abigael’s mother, while her father, Meshack Barasa, was still being sought. Nafula, who is Barasa’s sister, said Abigael had been living with her since August because of hostility at home.
Nafula said the girl had been attending Mbirira Primary School but sat the examination at Ndalu Primary School. She said she had taken Abigael back home to sit the exam after the parents’ tensions, and that the disagreement was linked to the girl’s adolescent stage.
Nafula also said she had visited the couple on Saturday to pick up Namukhosi with her own daughter, but was told the girl had been sent to deliver money to a relative in Ndalu market.
