This archive report was first published on 8 October 2019.
On Sunday night, a heinous crime shook the quiet village of Kongoni in Kakamega County, leaving a family in mourning. A 65-year-old woman, Jerusa Obware, and her 13-year-old niece, Melvyn Ndidi, were brutally raped and murdered in their home.
According to Beatrice Obware, Jerusa's daughter, the bodies were discovered by a farmhand who had woken up to milk the cows on Monday morning. The farmhand became concerned after finding the doors open at around 6am, with no one outside to respond to his calls.
He decided to enter the house and was shocked to find the two bodies lying on the bed. Beatrice explained that the assailants might have entered and hidden inside the house earlier without the victims' knowledge, as the steel doors were intact.
A security team led by Lugari Sub County Police Commander Patrick Maundu and his Likuyani counterpart Boniface Lisiolo visited the scene. Preliminary investigations indicate that the two were raped before being strangled to death.
The Sub County police boss, Maundu, said the motive behind the heinous act is yet to be established, and he appealed for calmness as they continue with the investigation. The bodies were taken to Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital mortuary in Eldoret for postmortem.
