Ex-police officer arrested after killing wife, raping house help in Nairobi
Relatives of Nabwire say they are struggling to come to terms with the tragedy, describing her death as a betrayal by someone who should have protected her.
A family in Nairobi’s Pipeline estate has been plunged into grief after the violent killing of 27-year-old Susan Nabwire, allegedly at the hands of her husband, a former police officer.
What began as a domestic quarrel inside their rented home in Kware turned into a horrifying night of violence that has left behind a one-year-old orphan and a household shattered.
Relatives of Nabwire say they are struggling to come to terms with the tragedy, describing her death as a betrayal by someone who should have protected her.
“They started arguing and he slapped Susan, asking for her cellphone. He then threatened her that if she wouldn’t give him the PIN, he would kill her,” said her mother, Philice Makokha.
The events unfolded on the night of August 13, when 44-year-old Cyprian Mukoye reportedly came home in anger, accusing his wife of infidelity.
He demanded her phone, passwords, and M-Pesa PIN, but she refused. The heated argument went on as their house help watched in fear.
According to the house help, the confrontation escalated after midnight. Mukoye is said to have returned from the bathroom carrying an axe, which he used to hack his wife on the neck.
Despite her desperate pleas, the assault continued until she collapsed and died.
“Walipigana usiku na Susan, baadaye aliingia bafuni na kuleta shoka. Alimkata na shoka kwa shingo alafu baadaye akamkata hapa kichwa. Kisha akaenda akachukua kamba akaanza kumnyonga nayo; akachukua kisu akaanza kumdunga karibu na macho akisema kuwa atamuua akiona,” added Philice.
Translation: They fought at night with Susan, then he went into the bathroom and brought an axe. He cut her neck with the axe and then cut off her head. Then he went and took a rope and started to strangle her with it; he took a knife and started stabbing her near the eyes saying that he would kill her as she watched.
The brutality did not end there. The house help narrated how the suspect tied a rope around Nabwire’s neck and shoved her body under the bed before turning his rage on her.
“He then told the house help that he wanted to sleep with her, threatening to kill her if she refused. He raped her and locked them with his child and then he fled,” Philice explained.
Trapped in the house with the body and the child, the house help was unable to raise the alarm until police arrived. Officers broke into the house and recovered the body, which was later moved to Mama Lucy Hospital mortuary.
Nabwire worked as an M-Pesa agent at Machakos Country Bus station in Nairobi, while her husband, who once served in the police service, had been reduced to casual labour in Pipeline after losing his job.
Police have since arrested the suspect, who is being held at Embakasi Police Station as investigations continue. For Nabwire’s family, however, the pain is unbearable.
“We may never recover from this,” said her relatives, as they now take care of her child left behind by the tragedy.
