Case files: How 'possessed' woman killed own mother in Kuresoi
In the wee hours of August 20, 2021, Christine Akhnesinwa did the unthinkable. She hacked her mother to death as the old woman slept — a macabre killing that sent a chill across Taragonik village in Kuresoi, Nakuru County.
Christine Akhnesinwa did the unthinkable.
In the wee hours of August 20, 2021, she hacked her mother to death as the old woman slept — a macabre killing that sent a chill across Taragonik village in Kuresoi, Nakuru County.
Today, she is at Nakuru Women's Prison Remand, a place she has called home for nearly two years, as she awaits her date with destiny.
On May 2, her countdown to fate started when the High Court heard final submissions in a murder trial that mutated into a manslaughter case before she admitted to killing her mother, Jacinta Kahuthu Mwaura.
It all started a few months after Akhnesinwa’s husband, Rodgers Koech, was locked up at Nakuru GK Prison on January 5, 2019, for a criminal offence.
The young mother was left to shoulder the burden of single-handedly raising their family.
But the weight of her new responsibilities and the shame caused by her convicted husband seemed too much for the 27-year-old woman to handle.
With her husband jailed for seven years, the jobless woman was looking at being the sole breadwinner of the family, with children to feed and educate, for the entire time.
She suffered mental trauma and started experiencing bouts of depression.
As time went by, the condition seemed to worsen, court documents reviewed by the Nation show.
At the height of her illness, she started having nightmares at her home and this left her scared of her environment.
On August 20, 2021, she requested her mother to keep her company in her house because she could no longer sleep alone.
Kahuthu, like any mother who will do anything to help her child, readily accepted her daughters’ request and accompanied her to her house in Taragonik village.
While they walked along the narrow path leading to the house in the dark night, the older woman only hoped that her actions would help to relax her restless daughter. She had no clue of the horror that awaited her.
"Seemingly possessed"
In the dead of the night, at 2 am while her mother was fast asleep, Akhnesinwa woke up, seemingly possessed, and charged towards where the mother was sleeping while chanting in Kiswahili.
“Damu ya yesu inamwagika (the blood of Jesus is flowing).” In her hand was a panga.
Before the mother could react, the daughter descended on her, hacking her several times on the head with the panga. And after killing her, she continued chanting: “Damu ya yesu inatiririka, damu ya yesu inatiririka, ishindwe, nimeua nyoka (the blood of Jesus is flowing, the blood of Jesus is flowing, I have killed a snake).”
The neighbours who heard the commotion rushed to the scene and found Kahuthu lying dead in a pool of blood. Akhnesinwa was still shouting that she had killed a snake.
They called the police who arrested the suspect.
After being taken for mental assessment, Akhnesinwa was found to be of sound mind and fit to stand trial.
On September 9, 2021, Akhnesinwa was arraigned for the murder of Kahuthu. She pleaded not guilty.
On March 29, 2021 she sought a plea bargain agreement with the prosecution where she admitted to killing her mother while possessed.
Her lawyer had requested the court to give her a non-custodial sentence, adding that the suspect regretted her actions.
He told the court that the woman was suffering from a mental disorder at the time she committed the offence.
"I wish to ask this court to find that as a result of temporary insanity, the convict cannot be criminally culpable and thus imprisonment would not meet the ends of justice," submitted the lawyer.
The prosecution, however, recommended a custodial sentence of 15 years on the grounds that the deceased was neither armed nor provoked Akhnesinwa, who inflicted pain on her.
The court, however, noted that even though the suspect was found to be of sound mind at the time of taking plea the circumstances seem to suggest that she was afflicted with some kind of mental condition that made her shout the words she uttered.
"The accused person's state of mind at the time of the commission of the offence may have diminished her blameworthiness. This court has to tread carefully so as not to punish the accused person who was not in control of her mental situation at the material time even if it was not documented,” said Justice Heston Nyaga.
He ordered the probation office to prepare a comprehensive pre-sentencing report that will enable him to make an appropriate decision.
