Former teacher reveals woman who was raped and doused in acid was good hearted

It is a story that sounds like a horror movie.

Lucy Njambi Ndung’u, died a horrible death that has shocked the country and reopened the conversation about domestic abuse.

Njambi was married to Samwel Ndung'u, a former Kiambu MCA (Riruta Ward). She was a mother of a four year old son. She was attacked, raped and doused with acid, sustaining 75 percent burns.

According to a neighbor, Njambi was picked by her husband who was in the company of other unidentified men, from her apartment, on Wednesday night when the ordeal happened.

"Lucy was a friend to everyone, she was not easy to annoy," says her former teacher.

Ndung'u has been arrested in connection with the brutal attack that led to Njambi’s death on Friday 26 January at the Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH).

Good Samaritans found Njambi abandoned without clothes at Kamiti Corner in Ruiru. She was taken to Kiambu hospital and later KNH where she succumbed.

Speaking to Standard Digital, the former teacher last spoke to Lucy on Thursday last week. They had a phone call that lasted 20 minutes.

“On Thursday she was down, I told her not to meet him (former MCA). I don’t know how she went to meet him again,” says the teacher who does not want to be named.

According to the teacher, they spoke about her marriage problems and how she was wanted nothing to do with Ndung'u’. However, he kept pestering her and was adamant to leave her for good.

“Lucy had left his place to live her on own, the MCA wanted her back, but she was adamant. She had moved to stay on Thika Road away from Riruta,” says her teacher.

Njambi moved to an apartment along Kiambu road around February 2017. Ndung'u moved to Kiambu road around March but the two lived in different houses. All through 2017, the two had marital issues to the extent of engaging in fights.

“Lucy really suffered. I told her to move to her parents place, but she ignored and said she was okay,” the emotional teacher narrated to Standard Digital.

Lucy’s former teacher divulged that she was a jovial, friendly person who mingled freely with many in society.

“Everybody was close to her, she was so friendly to everyone, she wasn't easy to annoy anyone (sic). She was such a jovial person…she had a unique voice of a baby. Lucy was quick to make friends and was easy to spend on someone with a problem.”

According to family she was dragged into a thicket where the husband’s friend raped her before they poured acid on her. She was then dumped by the roadside without clothes.

Domestic violence is described as the act of violence against a person living in one’s household especially from an immediate member of the family.

In Kenya, it is still a taboo to talk about domestic violence. Victims who speak out are stigmatized for airing their ‘dirty linen’ in public.

According to Ken Ouko, a sociologist, the African woman has been socialized to stick it out in a marriage.

This is the reason many choose to stay in abusive relationships. He also adds that domestic violence happens between two people who actually love and care for each other.

This then leads to the vicious cycle where an argument ensues and it escalates from verbal and emotional abuse to physical abuse.