Kiambu family seeks State help in kin's death

Lucy Wambura (right), mother of 30-year-old Rose Njoki who was allegedly poisoned by her employer in Qatar, at her home in Muhara, Gatundu South. [PHOTO: KAMAU MAICHUHIE/standard]

When Rose Njoki, 30, left for Qatar in May, she was optimistic about getting a good job that would enable her to help her family back home.

This included being able to comfortably raise her two children who are in Standard Two and nursery school, as well as help her two siblings pursue their education.

However, on arriving in Qatar, the mother from Muhara in Gatundu South would soon realise that life was not going to be as smooth and rosy as she had anticipated.

Her mother, Lucy Wambura, said her oldest child called home one month after she had left the country and asked the entire family to pray for her as she was undergoing untold misery and suffering at the hands of her employer.

STRANGE EPISODES

“She told me that she was being mistreated and not being paid. She also said that she was experiencing strange episodes, which included seeing things that resembled eagles coming into the house where she worked, and that they always beat her up,” said Ms Wambura.

Wambura said even though Njoki kept calling them to complain about the hardship she was facing,it was a call made on June 29 that left the family in shock and confused about what to do next.

“During the call that unfortunately happened to be her last, she told me to pray hard for her because her life was in danger. She also prevailed on me to do everything we could to bring her back home otherwise she would return in a coffin,” said the mother amid tears.

As the family pondered over how to bring Njoki back home, the agent who had connected her to the job opportunity in Qatar called with the tragic news that she had died, allegedly from being poisoned.

 EMPLOYER’S CHILDREN

“The agent told us that Njoki had collapsed in the house and died on her way to hospital after she was poisoned for beating up one of her employer’s children,” said a family member.

Njoki’s grandfather, Francis Githutha, said the family was in the dark and did not know where to start because they had no clue which part of Qatar she had worked in.

He said the family could not understand why the agent switched off her phone immediately after delivering the sad news to the family.

“It is the agent who would have helped us locate the place where Njoki was working because she had all the details. That can no longer be the case because her phone has been off since then,” he said.

The family is now calling on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to intervene and help trace and bring Njoki’s body home.

“As a family, we are in total darkness and confusion. It has been difficult for us to even start burial arrangements before we actually see our daughter’s body,” said Joseph Githumbi, Njoki’s uncle.