Leaders say elderly woman’s rape and murder was ritual killing

Leaders in Taita Taveta county have linked the Tuesday incident in which an elderly woman was brutally gang-raped and subsequently murdered to ritual killing.

The leaders who included three members of the Taita-Taveta County Assembly asked the police to thoroughly investigate the killing of Diana Mkandoe Maganga, 70 claiming similar bizarre incidents had occurred in the area.

Speaking to The Standard in Wundanyi town yesterday, the MCAs among them Raymond Mwangola (Wundanyi-Mbale Ward), and two Nominated County Representatives Ruth Ilao and Rachael Dawai claimed the deceased private parts were removed by her killers.

They at the same time claimed that a postmortem examination conducted at Wesu Sub County Hospital found out that the deceased eyes were also gorged out.

"The postmortem examination conducted in our presence revealed that the deceased private parts were removed and eyes gorged out at that is why we are linking the incident to ritual killing," claimed Ms Ilao, a relative to the deceased.

Mr Mwangola claimed there were several other similar incidents that had occurred in the area. "Two months ago, a similar incident occurred at Mgange-Nyika where a youth was killed in mysterious circumstances," said the ODM legislator.

He noted in one of the recent incident, a primary school girl was murdered at Marungu village in Wundanyi constituency and her private parts removed.

"These rising incidents are disturbing and police should thoroughly investigate the alleged cases of ritual killings in the area before they go out of hand," noted Mwangola

Ms Dawai who is also the county assembly Deputy Minority leader concurred with her counterparts saying there is need for state agencies to investigate the matter.

"There is need for the relevant stakeholders to work together to adequately address the rising cases of rape, defilement and sodomy," said the opposition legislator. Dawai blamed the increased rape incidences to cultural decay among the local community.

Ms Maganga's decomposing naked body was dumped in a forest in the county.

Police and relatives said the undressed body was found at Iyale forest near Lushangondyi Primary School in Taita Sub County.

Her tattered clothes were found scattered at the scene where the body was discovered. Her killers could have robbed her of unknown amount of money, mobile phone among other valuables, said the police and relatives.

According to the police and relatives the deceased went missing last Friday and her decomposing body found by villagers on Tuesday evening. The deceased hailed from Shagha village in Wumingu location, Taita Sub County.

"The incident is brutal and barbaric. I have never seen such a thing happening in the area," said the deceased last born son Nicholas Mwakio at the Wundanyi Police Station where the family recorded a statement.
Mr Mwakio who is a tour consultant in Mombasa said his brother in-law and sister offered her mother a boda boda to take her to her destination but declined.
"After she declined to board a boda boda I gave her Sh 1,500 for use at home," said the deceased son in-law Rophus Mwakanyi.
He said the deceased had visited them at Murugua village in Bura location, Mwatate Sub County last week. "The deceased had visited us following the death of one of our relatives and on Friday she left for her matrimonial home where she did not reach," he said.
"We told her to board a boda boda but she declined. She wanted to go on foot to Wesu Sub County Hospital to see a patient before going back home where she did not reach," maintained Mr Mwakanyi who is also a primary school teacher in the area.
Speaking to The Standard in Wundanyi town on Wednesday, Mr Mwakio said they had reported the deceased disappearance to the police after she did not reach home where a search for her started.
"We dispatched a search party from Bura and Wumingu locations to look for her since Saturday in vain," she said.
Mwakio said on Tuesday, a woman who went to answer a call of nature in the forest found the naked decomposing body and alerted police and villagers.
"We went to the scene and identified the body of our mother. Police later removed and took the body to the hospital mortuary," he said.
Mwakio said police recovered two abandoned underpants believed to be of her mother's killers. "My mother was in good health when she left home last week to visit his son in law's family. We believe she was raped and murdered. Police should conduct thorough investigations into the cause of death," he said.
Taita OCPD Benjamin Muhia confirmed and said investigations into the incident had been launched.
"We suspect the deceased was first raped before she was murdered. Postmortem examination will however determine the actual cause of death," the police officer told The Standard on the phone.