Woman's body found in house in Kayole

This came moments after an assailant tried to set it on fire

In Summary
  • The body had been laid on the bedding on the floor covered with a piece of Maasai shuka.
  • Police said the woman’s body lay in blood facing upward with a cut wound on the right side of the neck with a pullover sleeve tied around it.
Crime scene.
CRIME: Crime scene.
Image: THE STAR:

Police are investigating an incident in which the body of a 30-year-old woman was found in a house moments after an assailant tried to set it on fire in Kayole, Nairobi.

Residents detected smoke billowing from a house on March 13 at midday while it was locked from the outside and decided to check what the problem was.

According to police, it was then that they decided to break into the house where they stumbled on a 20-litre jerrican on fire and managed to contain the spread of the inferno.

An assailant had set on fire the jerrican that had petrol.

Nairobi police boss Adamson Bungei said it was then that the mob realized a female body lying on the floor.

He said they are yet to establish the motive of the murder.

"This looks like murder but we are investigating it to establish the motive," he said.

The body had been laid on the bedding on the floor covered with a piece of Maasai shuka.

Police said the woman’s body lay in blood facing upward with a cut wound on the right side of the neck with a pullover sleeve tied around it.

This indicated she was strangled, police said. The scene was disturbed and blood was scattered all over the floor.

Police also said the lady's cloth rolled upwards to the waist while the underpants were torn apart and blood was oozing out of the nose and mouth.

Bungei said the body was moved to the mortuary pending autopsy and identification.

According to Bungei, they are looking for a known suspect in the incident.

Elsewhere in Embakasi, a 38-year collapsed and died while in his welding workshop.

The man was busy at the workshop when he collapsed Monday night and died in hospital.

The cause of the death is yet to be known and the body is lying in the mortuary awaiting autopsy.

WATCH: The latest videos from the Star