Man chops off wife's hands for overstaying at funeral in Migori

This woman is admitted to Ombo Mission Hospital. She claimed her husband attacked her on Thursday night, accusing her of overstaying at a funeral. [Photo: Caleb King'wara, Standard]

A mother of nine is nursing serious injuries at a hospital in Migori town after her husband allegedly chopped off her hand because she overstayed at a funeral.

The 50-year-old woman claimed her husband attacked her on Thursday night.

She said the man hacked off her left hand with a machete and left the right one hanging limply, accusing her of delaying to return home after attending a funeral.

She claimed that her husband cut her on the face and threw a spear at her as she tried to run away.

The woman said she went for a funeral on Monday at the home of one of her in-laws, thinking that the burial would take place on that day but it delayed until Wednesday.

“When I came back home on Thursday evening he was not in. I prepared for the evening but when he came, he just attacked me. He beat me and cut me repeatedly with the machete, threatening to kill me,” said the woman from her hospital bed.

When The Standard visited her at the hospital, she had just been wheeled out of the theatre after a second surgery.

She claimed that her husband, his brother, and other family members left her to bleed and that it took the intervention of distant relatives to rush her to Ombo hospital in Migori town.

“They refused to report the matter to the police. I passed out and gained consciousness at the hospital after my nephew brought me here,” she said.

The woman appealed for justice, saying no action had been taken against her husband.

But Migori police commander, Joseph Nthenge, said the matter had not been reported to any police station.

“We cannot investigate a case when there are no complainants. The family has decided to keep it covered but we will ensure justice prevails,” he said.