• The mother of year-old boy could no longer endure the beatings from her husband of two years.
• The man has gone into hiding.
'Enough is enough' is the decision 23-year-old Christine Obari made on May 5. She could no longer endure the frequent battering from her husband of two years.
For the mother of a one-year-old boy, it was time to quit living. She took poison in the form of insecticide.
The resident of Mishomoroni, Mombasa, did not die immediately. Somebody found her writhing in pain and rushed her to the Mombasa County Teaching and Referral Hospital where she died the following day.
Abraham Madeke, the man who was the cause of her suffering, was by her side. He is the same person Christine had protected from the wrath of her family and neighbours.
“While at the hospital on May 6 at around 2pm, she told us not to tell her family that she had taken poison,” neighbour Margaret Bahati said.
She and Madeke had been married for two years, although they started living together in March last year.
Christine's is but another number in a growing list of domestic violence victims who commit suicide.
Neighbours say that she and Madeke started quarrelling at 7pm on May 5. She was severely beaten.
Now her family is seeking justice for a daughter who died only four years after her teenage.
Meanwhile, Madeke has gone into hiding. To Christine's family, he is a person of interest and should be charged with the killing of their daughter.
The death is recorded at Nyali police station as OB number 84/6/5/2019.
Police said they are probing the death. Nyali OCPD Simon Thirikwa said blood samples have been taken for toxicology analysis.
On Monday, Christine’s neighbours said no police officer has visited what they say is the crime scene. None of them has been asked to record a statement. They spoke when Muslims for Human Rights officials visited.
The rights lobby is pushing for an inquest and has called for a crackdown on perpetrators of domestic violence. This year alone, it has recorded 22 cases of violence against women.
“Let justice prevail,” rapid response officer Francis Auma said.
Christine's neighbours saw no need to intervene. The couple's wrangling had become more or less a ritual.
“We did not intervene because their fights had become normal. At one point during a previous fight, she was beaten until her eye was swollen,” Grace Mati said.
Mati said Christine was a quiet person and kept her suffering to herself. She was scared of her husband and had in the past stopped her relatives from disciplining him. She did not want more trouble from the man.
Did they let her down by their silence? Probably yes. In the deafening absence of an uproar, the man was emboldened and she was left bruised. Death beckoned.
Christine's sister-in-law Saumu Fatuma said they lived a troubled life.
“Madeke would assault Obari whenever she visited me,” she said.
Before the last beating, Christine had fled to her brother's house in Huruma, Nairobi, Fatuma said.
“She died just 10 days after her return,” she added.
A postmortem examination conducted last Friday did not disclose the cause of her death. There were no physical injuries.
“If she indeed took poison, we must be told why. The information that we have is that she was beaten badly before she was taken to the hospital,” her brother, Justus Okello, said.
“He [the husband] is a beast and does not deserve to be roaming free.”
Christine's family wants the custody of her son, but Madeke wants to keep the child. He is currently under the care of Madeke’s mother.
Christine's body will be removed from the morgue on Wednesday (today) for transportation to Butula in Busia for burial on Friday.
(Edited by F'Orieny)