Abductors of 23-year-old Hafsa Mohamed lured her with a business deal to supply watermelons, and then demanded a Sh5 million ransom, a court was told.
Hafsa, who went missing on June 15, was rescued from an abandoned house at Matopeni slums, Kayole, Nairobi, where she had been kept captive in a broken water tank.
Police constable Mary Wandia, attached to Buruburu police station, told court on Tuesday that a suspect, Syrus Ndung'u Njogu, called the victim on the phone.
He requested they meet at Kayole Junction so that she could be incorporated into a fruit supply business.
When she arrived at Kayole Junction accompanied by a friend who owns a shop there, they entered the shop and held a short prayer.
But as they were leaving the shop, they were met by two men who abducted the victim and took her into a secret location in the same area.
Wandia told court that Njogu was arrested after his mobile phone signals were traced very close to where Hafsa was being held.
She told court that Njogu was also in constant communication with other suspects who are still on the run.
“On June, 20 the victim managed to peep through the door opening where she was confined, she saw a child who was passing by and requested help,” she said.
The child informed her father who called the police from Kayole police station.
The victim, who was unkempt and looked sickly, was rescued and taken to Nairobi Women Hospital for treatment.
Wandia, through an affidavit filed at the Makadara chief magistrate Angelo Kithinji's court, asked court to grant her 14 days custodial orders to detain the suspect.
Hafsa is still hospitalised and has yet to record her statement.
“I do believe there are multiple crime scenes involved that can only be accessed with the assistance of the suspect already in custody,” she said.
Magistrate Kithinji granted 10 days custodial orders.
The suspect will be remanded at Buruburu police station.
(Edited by V. Graham)
