This archive report was first published on 18 August 2019.
On a fateful Sunday morning in August 2019, a village in Makunga, Trans Nzoia County, was left reeling after a double tragedy unfolded at a local home.
A neighbour, Kenedy Barasa, reported hearing a commotion from the couple's house at around 3 am, prompting him and other residents to rush to the scene.
Residents were forced to use a grinder to break the metal door as it was locked from inside, and upon entering, they found the woman lying in a pool of blood on the bed, while the husband had hanged himself using a rope in another room, as Barasa recounted.
Area chief, Selina Opande, identified the victims as Stephen Kagumo and his wife Caren Chebet, who, residents said, had never had any domestic fight in the past.
According to the administrator, Kagumo had arrived home at around 9 pm after watching a football match before a fight ensued at around 3 am.
The woman's sister, who was staying with the couple, reported being woken up by a commotion between her sister and brother-in-law in their bedroom, and upon rushing to their room, she found her brother-in-law with a machete in his hand quarreling with the wife.
Trans Nzoia County Police Commander, Ayub Ali, stated that Kagumo attacked his wife with a machete, hacking her several times, before hanging himself.
The bodies were moved to Kitale County Referral Hospital mortuary, and the incident has left the community in shock.
