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Tigania court detains man who killed wife, sought burial permit
Ms Grace Gatundu, 65, the mother of a woman who was allegedly killed by her husband in KK Muthangene in Tigania Central, holds her two-month-old grandson at her home on August 3, 2021. Police were allowed to detain the murder suspect for 14 days.
A Tigania court has allowed police from Mikinduri in Meru County to continue holding for 14 days a man who allegedly beat his wife to death and then went to seek for a burial permit at midnight.
John Kirema, 34, is alleged to have killed Ruth Nkatha, 37, and then rushed to the chief’s house at midnight claiming she had committed suicide by taking poison.
The two had gone out on a drinking spree on Sunday when they differed while on their way home in KK Muthangene, Tigania Central.
He allegedly beat her up with a wooden plank, bit her on the back and thighs, and cut her right leg with a crude weapon in a fit of rage.
Kirema then walked to his house, about 300 metres from the scene, where he woke his eldest son and ordered him to go accompany him to collect the body.
He carried the body on his back as he staggered up the gentle hill through a maize farm as his son shone light for him using a torch.
Mr John Kigwanthi shows the spot KK Muthangene where Ruth Nkatha was allegedly killed by her husband.
Laid body on bed
The father of five then laid the body on their matrimonial bed and walked to his neighbour’s home and told them that his wife had committed suicide and wanted a permit to bury her.
Ms Agnes Karimi Thiane, a neighbour, said they doubted his story since they had heard their fight for close to two hours and suspected that he could have killed her.
She volunteered to call the area chief so that he could report the death as he requested.
When the administrator and other residents inspected the blood soaked body, they realised that the woman had been killed.
“The chief tricked him that it was good they report to the police that his wife had committed suicide. When they arrived at the police station, he was arrested,” she recalled.
Local village manager John Kigwanthi said the man had strategically placed two bottles of a herbicide so as to deceive residents and police to believe his suicide narrative.
Murder weapon
Police recovered the plank of wood believed to be the murder weapon and photographed the drag marks left on the 300-metre trail and blood-soaked clothes on the bed.
Residents revealed that they were aware that the couple, who had five children, were fighting but regretted that they did not offer any help during the fateful night.
“We had hesitated to respond because we are used to hearing chaos from their home. My husband is the one who said that according to the screams, there was something amiss,” recounted Ms Thiaine.
The suspect’s mother, Ms Grace Gatundu, 65, who lives about 200 metres away from the couple’s homestead said she was woken up by screams at midnight and went to investigate what was happening.
She found the couple’s five children, among them a two-month-old toddler, wailing.
Constant quarrels
Mr Kagwanthi detailed the constant quarrels between the couple, most of which erupted when they got drunk.
“I have handled many cases between them. I had even housed them but I told them to leave because I feared the fights could end in a fatality. The man has even served several short jail terms over brewing and selling of illicit brews,” he said.
On the fateful night, Mr Kirema had earlier joined other villagers in a search for a neighbour’s goats, which had been missing, in a nearby bush.
They ended the search in disappointment after they found the carcasses of the animals which had been mauled by a wild animal thought to be a leopard, which has been in the area for the last one month.
Tigania Principal Magistrate Gathogo Sogomo fixed the case for mention on August 18, 2021.
