Five to be charged over death of varsity student in Murang’a
From left: Brenda Wanjiru Mukaya, Maureen Wambui, Allan Muchangi Munuhe and Joseph Weru Wairimu at a Murang'a court on August 28, 2019. Together with Dr Peter Kiarie Njau, they will be charged with the murder of Chuka University student Maureen Wanjiku Mwihaki. PHOTO | NDUNG'U GACHANE | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
- Investigating Officer Pius Kasuni told a Murang’a court Wednesday he had concluded investigations on the suspects.
- Ms Keya Ombele said a mental assessment has been conducted on the four students.
- The court extended orders barring the burial of Ms Mwihaki’s body until a second post-mortem exam is done.
Four friends of the late Maureen Wanjiku Mwihaki, a Chuka University student who died after attending a graduation party in Murang’a, and a doctor who allegedly treated her, will now face murder charges.
Investigating Officer Pius Kasuni told a Murang’a court Wednesday that Brenda Wanjiru Mukaya, whose graduation from Murang’a University they were celebrating, Maureen Wambui, a student from Pwani University, Allan Muchangi Munuhe, Joseph Weru Wairimu and Dr Peter Kiarie Njau will face murder charges after he concluded investigations linking the five to the killing of the student.
MENTAL TESSTS
Ms Keya Ombele, representing the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), told the court that a mental assessment has been conducted on the four students and that they have been certified to be fit to stand murder trial.
“A mental test has been conducted and we have established that the four are fit to stand murder trial. We therefore seek for a date to produce the fifth suspect so that they can be charged together,” she told the court.
Resident Magistrate Sheila Nyaga ordered that all the five suspects be brought back to the court on September 3.
The four suspects in court on Wednesday will be detained at Murang’a GK Prison until then.
NO BURIAL YET
The magistrate also extended orders barring the burial of Ms Mwihaki’s body until a second post-mortem exam is conducted.
This was after the defence, who applied for the post-mortem, informed the court that they could not conduct the examination since Ms Mwihaki’s relatives were not available on August 22, the scheduled date for the exercise.
“A post-mortem was not conducted on August 22 since the family of the late (Ms Mwihaki’s) was not available and we seek your orders to have the body to continue being preserved until it is done. We also seek that the miscellaneous file be opened until the post-mortem is conducted,” Ms Janet Mwangi, who held brief for the defence team, told to the court.
REPORT BACK
The magistrate granted her prayers, ruling that the defence reports back to court on September 4 to confirm whether they have conducted the post-mortem exam.
The doctor, who was previously attached to the Bliss Hospital, is in custody and is also facing another charge of lying to the detectives that he had treated Ms Mwihaki at the health facility.
Nation has established that the hospital has suspended the doctor.
The suspects reported to the detectives that Ms Mwihaki complained of stomach ache before she did, only for the post-mortem report to reveal that she was strangled to death.
