This archive report was first published on 11 May 2020.
On May 9, 2020, a tragic incident occurred in Nairobi's Umoja II Estate, where Edward Okello, an airplane engineer at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, was stabbed to death by his girlfriend, Vigilance Shighi.
According to reports, the incident happened at around 8:30 p.m., with Okello being rushed to the Mama Lucy Kibaki Hospital, where he succumbed to the stab wounds.
Shighi, the prime suspect in the murder, was identified by neighbours and arrested immediately after police arrived at the scene.
During a video interview on May 10, 2020, Shighi revealed the events that led to her stabbing Okello to death, claiming that they were involved in a domestic squabble over washing dishes.
She stated, 'I don’t know what happened, amongst the fighting and the push and pull, we asked each other what’s not happening. I don’t know anything. If I have to be jailed because he is the one who is hurt, it’s okay. He beat me repeatedly, a woman will take anything to defend herself, I took a cup and threw it at him.'
Shighi also claimed that Okello had beaten her repeatedly and that she had taken a cup and thrown it at him in self-defense.
The incident has sparked concerns about domestic violence, which has been on the rise globally during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Shighi's case is the second reported incident of killings at Umoja Estate, following a similar incident where a woman allegedly stabbed her two children to death before attempting suicide.
