NAIROBI, KENYA – A woman charged with murdering a university student on allegations that she had an affair with her husband has been jailed for life.
Judge Richard Mwongo of Naivasha subsequently rejected a recommendation by the probation office to serve a non-custodial sentence noting that this could trigger the wrong message on how to deal with ‘mpango wa kandos.’
In the case Cecilia Waruguru had been charged that on June 30, 2013 in King’ori Estate in Mai Mahiu, Naivasha she murdered Susan Wanjiru Kihiu.
Waruguru is said to have lured to death the 22-year-old second year law student of University of Nairobi.
The student at the time of the death was employed by the suspect’s husband and from mobile phone data collected they had a relationship before she was brutally murdered.
Her body which was found dumped in an open field near their home had multiple stab wounds and “was scalded using hot water or a corrosive chemical,” the prosecution testified.
In his ruling, the judge termed the murder “a crime of passion” adding that the accused defence was flimsy and fictitious.
“After the murder, the deceased’s body was thrown in a field not far from her house and this was a cruel and cleverly schemed murder,” he said.
The judge noted that the accused who is a mother of two was not remorseful even after being found guilty noting that the deceased died a painful and traumatizing death.
In the ruling, the judge added that Waruguru had every motive to murder the student who had a close relationship with her husband.
“The accused’s clear intention was to eliminate the young university student who had evidently emerged a clear rival for her husband’s attention,” he said.
While rejecting the probation officer recommendations, the judge noted that this would pass the wrong message to thousands of women and men stuck in ‘mpango wa kando’ relations.
“A non-custodial sentence may even trigger the idea that murder is fashionable and rewarding and that it’s an appropriate cure for ‘mpango wa kando’,” he said.
He added that the answer to such relationship was not murder of the third party, but the management of the deviant spouse.
“I therefore sentence the accused to life imprisonment and the sentence shall be subjected to review after 20 years upon the accused demonstration of good conduct,” he said.
SOURCE: sde.co.ke
