Kenyan Police have arrested a 24-year-old church keyboardist for allegedly stabbing a 20-year-old member, Faith Makau, with a knife after she rejected his advances.
It was gathered that both Makau and her alleged attacker fellowship at a local church in Mwingi, a town in Kenya, where they are members of the youth group.
Speaking to The Standard on Saturday, Makau, a hospitality student at Kenya Utalii College, Kitui campus, said that her brush with death happened on Thursday, August 19.
According to Makau, her attacker, who plays the keyboard in their church, attempted to kill her by stabbing her three times in the abdomen.
Makau said that she was stabbed at about 9:00 am when she’d left her rented house in Mwingi town to buy airtime from a nearby shop.
She said, “On my way to the shop, I met the suspect, who requested me to help him carry musical instruments to the church.
“I didn’t sense any danger, as it’s normal for members of the youth team to assist in church activities.
“I, consequently, agreed and accompanied him to his house.”
Makau stated that upon reaching the keyboardist’s house, she saw two kitchen knives on the table.
She said, “Given that it was his house, I thought it was normal for someone to sometimes forget cutlery in the living room.”
Makau claimed that her suspicion was triggered when the suspect allegedly locked the door from the inside and hid the keys.
Makau said, “He told me: ‘I have been expressing interest in you, but you always reject my advances.
“’Today, I want to prove to you that if I won’t have you to myself, then no one else will.’”
She noted that the suspect picked one of the knives from the table and cut her in the index finger.
Makau said, “He, thereafter, stabbed me in the abdomen twice.
“I was in shock and too weak to scream.
“When he stabbed me for a third time in the stomach, I fell down and pretended I had died.”
The victim said that the man, thereafter, opened the door and left.
“Convinced that he had gone, and wouldn’t return anytime soon, I rose up and started walking towards the door, while in deep pain and bleeding profusely.
“On reaching the exit, I was shocked to see him coming back. It was then that I gathered courage and screamed for help.”
She noted that the suspect wasn’t moved by her screams and continued striding towards her.
Makau said, “I was sure he was devoted to killing me. Nonetheless, I begged him to take me to the hospital, or just carry and abandon me on the road.
“That’s the last thing I remember. I must have collapsed thereafter.”
According to The Standard Newspaper in Kenya, the victim was rescued and taken to the hospital by neighbours who heard her agonising screaming.
The Standard wrote: “It has emerged that it was her agonised scream that caught the attention of neighbours, who rushed to the scene and rescued her.
“Makau was taken to the Mwingi Level 4 Hospital, where she is undergoing treatment.
“Her alleged attacker, on the other hand, was assaulted by neighbours, who vowed to lynch him.
“However, police arrived at the scene before the angry mob could kill the suspect.
“The suspect, who sustained serious head injuries, was taken to the Kitui County Referral Hospital, where he is receiving treatment.
“Police were forced to guard the vicenarian at the hospital to prevent irate residents from storming the facility to harm him.
A nurse at the Kitui County Referral Hospital, spoke in confidence to The Standard that residents have told the suspect that he would be lynched as soon as he recovers.
The nurse said, “Certain residents would pop into the ward where the patient is admitted, and tell him they’d lynch him as soon as he gets discharged.”
Mwingi Central Sub-County Police Commander Peter Mutuma told The Standard that the suspect will be charged with attempted murder as soon as he gets discharged from hospital.