- The father told journalists on Friday that they received a call on Wednesday from an unknown individual demanding a ransom of Sh20,000.
- The caller was using the deceased’s phone. Musembi said that his wife hurriedly sent the money for the sake of their daughter’s safety
Detectives are investigating the death of a 19-year-old university student in Thika Town. Faith Musembi was found dead in her room at Pilot Estate, where she resided.
A first-year student at Mt Kenya University (MKU) main campus, she hailed from Machakos. Her family demands justice for their daughter, suspecting foul play.
Her lifeless body was discovered by her father Boniface Musembi in her rented room at Pilot Estate within Hospital Ward in Thika.
He told journalists on Friday that they received a call on Wednesday from an unknown individual demanding a ransom of Sh20,000 for the release of their daughter.
The caller was using the deceased’s phone. Musembi said that his wife hurriedly sent the money for the sake of their daughter’s safety, as he left for Thika to pursue the matter.
He reported the matter at a Police Station in Thika but said that the officers allegedly downplayed the matter and dismissed it as a trick game by the deceased, her friends, or her boyfriend.
Dissatisfied with the response at the police station, Musembi went to MKU to seek help in finding the daughter, he said.
It was already past midnight by then, which forced him to spend the night at the university.
Come Thursday morning, Musembi said he went to the house where his daughter was staying but found it locked with a padlock. He said he knocked and called out her name severally but there was no response.
He inquired from the neighbors on the whereabouts of her daughter in vain.
He went out and asked a vegetable vendor if she had seen her and was informed she had sold the deceased vegetables the previous day.
Musembi went back to another police station where he reported the matter but said the officers again downplayed the ordeal as a trick usually staged by students whenever they want to siphon money from their parents or relatives.
He was heartbroken by the actions of the officers there.
Determined to unearth the whereabouts of his daughter, Musembi went back to her residence and broke into the house on his own. To his shock, he found his daughter’s lifeless body lying on the bed.
It was then that the police rushed to the scene. They later moved the body to the mortuary.
An autopsy conducted at the Thika General Kago Funeral Home indicated that she succumbed due to excessive bleeding.
The report indicated that she had bleeding in the uterus caused by an abruption placenta (the placenta had detached itself leading to excessive bleeding).
It’s not clear what prompted the condition. Police authorities in Thika and Kiambu said they are investigating the police action on the report and the murder.
The motive is yet to be established. The woman’s mobile phone is still missing.
Musembi blamed the police for laxity saying that had they acted swiftly, they would have saved his daughter’s life. The phone that was being used by her suspected killers was still on, on Friday.
An uncle to the deceased Joseph Kinaka said he texted her phone number on WhatsApp on Thursday morning and received a response demanding a ransom of Sh33,000, failure to which she will be killed.
The person with the phone even sent him Faith’s photo. However, on examining the photo closely, he saw blood oozing from her nose, and that she had bit her tongue, he said.
The phone’s signal was found to be operating from Nairobi town.
Police said they are investigating the matter.