Police have revealed the identity of the woman whose torso was found dumped in Nakuru two weeks ago.
This came after the main suspect in the murder of the woman ushered police to a pit latrine in the Barut, where he allegedly dumped the woman- Eunice Akhatenje’s head.
Nakuru County Police Commander, Peter Mwanzo said police had been looking for the suspect since the Eunice’s body was found alongside that of a man- Geoffrey Bett.
“The suspect led us to the scene where he had disposed the head. We managed to retrieve it with the assistance of the Nakuru fire brigade,” said Mr Mwanzo, adding that the investigation into the homicide took long because the suspects had fled to different parts of the country after committing the heinous act.
Mr Mwanzo said the suspect, who had been on the run, was arrested on last Saturday in his hideout in Sotik, Bomet County.
He said the suspect was being harboured by a relative in Utawala, Nairobi, and escaped to Bomet when he got wind that police were looking for him.
Akhatenje’s mother Beatrice Auma, a resident of Butere sub county, Kakamega County said her second born daughter left home in 2020 after completing her KCPE to look for employment in Nakuru.
Ms Auma said that Akhatenje later informed her that she had secured employment in one of the homesteads in Rhonda as a domestic manager but never divulged much about it.
She said that on June 6 Eunice went home to greet her parents and siblings, where she stayed only for a week and returned to Nakuru where she said, she had been recalled to by her employer.
However, a month later Ms Auma reached out to her daughter as it was their norm but her phone had been switched off.
“A day later I saw in local stations that a girl had been killed and body dumped in Barut with no head. I panicked but I kept telling myself that was not my daughter but the more the days went I become suspicious since her phone was still switched off,” said the distressed mother.
With her woes deepening for two weeks she decided to travel to Nakuru to look for her only to be referred to a morgue to view a body if it was her daughter, she identified her daughter through a birthmark on her left leg.
According to Ms Auma her daughter had earlier informed her that she was pregnant but she never revealed who was responsible for the pregnancy.
“It was heartbreaking to see my daughter whom I last saw alive one month ago lying lifeless with no head at the mortuary. I had to gather courage to see her but we thank God her head has been found.. We have endured sleepless nights as a family,” she said.
Akhatenje’s cousin Jacton Atenyi, a resident of Rhonda said he once met with her seven months after coming to Nakuru and informed him that she was living with her boyfriend only identified as Marto.
Three months into their relationship, she had revealed, the boyfriend became violent forcing Akhatenje to escape to her cousin’s place and Mr Atenyi volunteered to give her transport to go back to Kakamega.
Mr Atenyi said that the two later reconciled and came back to Nakuru but ever informed him only to switch her phone.
“When she came back she found out that the boyfriend was living with another woman and came to my house. I had even rented a house for her next door. I wanted the best for her. She was still young. I tried talking to the boyfriend but he became angry saying that I was coming between their relationships,” he said.
Mr Atenyi said that neighbors spotted Marto coming out of Akhatanje’s house the night she went missing saying that he left the house very angry.
Police are still investigating the motive of the killing and whether the two murders were linked.
“We suspect that the decapitation was an act of revenge between members of different gangs in Rhonda and Bondeni area where most Confirm gang members clash,” he said.
Residents stumbled on the torso of the woman on the morning of July 13 taking police two weeks to establish the whereabouts of her head.
A few metres from where the woman’s body was found, school children had found the body of a man, later identified as Geoffrey Bett, 48, with several suspected knife injuries.
According to Mr Mwanzo the deceased was gang raped before being killed.
“We want to thank the public because through the information they volunteered to us it has really helped. I want to promise the people of Barut that we are not going to stop or neither are we going to get tired until these criminal activities around here are wiped out,” he said.
