Eldoret college student found dead in suspected botched abortion

A resident peeps into the room where the student was found dead in a rental in Eldoret /MATHEWS NDANYI

A 21-year-old female college student was found dead in her house in Eldoret City on Thursday.

Police discovered a basin full of blood in the rental located in an estate along the Eldoret-Kisumu road. It’s suspected that she died during a botched abortion.

The blood in the basin had pieces of flesh suspected to be those of a foetus. Uasin Gishu police boss Benjamin Mwanthi said residents reported the incident early on Thursday and police were called to the scene.

“We are investigating the cause of death of the woman at Tele View estate and police have already visited the scene,” he said. The deceased was a second-year student at Eldoret Polytechnic, where she studied laboratory science.

The body of the deceased was found leaning on a bed with a mobile phone in her hand. Fellow students had gone to pick her up in the morning so that they could go to college together, but she failed to open the door.

“We had agreed that we would pass by to pick her up, so that we could walk to college together, but when we arrived and knocked the door she did not open it,” one of the students said. She said the deceased had not complained to them about any challenges she may have been experiencing.

A caretaker of the iron-sheet houses was called and forced the door open. “We were shocked to find her dead,” the student said.

The house where the incident occurred is located about four kilometers from the polytechnic.

The area has many houses used as hostels by students from other colleges in the area. Mwanthi said the body was retrieved and taken to a mortuary in the city. The students lived alone at the time of the incident.

Abortion is illegal in Kenya. The 2010 Constitution offers limited protection, allowing abortion when a trained health professional determines that a woman’s life or health is at risk.

However, an outdated Penal Code inherited from colonial rule continues to criminalise most abortions, creating fear and uncertainty among doctors. Camapigners say by criminalising abortion, the law forces women to seek unsafe procedures.

It leads to unnecessary deaths, lifelong health complications and a society that punishes victims of sexual violence by forcing them to give birth to children conceived in trauma.