Freelance journalist murdered and body dumped in Naivasha

Police in Naivasha are investigating an incident where a mutilated body of a man was found dumped off the Naivasha-Mai Mahiu road.

The body of the 35-year-old man, said to be a freelance journalist, was found on Tuesday near Kihoto estate, a kilometre from Naivasha town, with his tongue and throat missing.

A personal car that he was travelling in was found parked a few meters away by residents.

A witness, Simon Muhoho, said that the doors of the car were wide open with signs of a struggle, and the body lay a few meters away.

He said that there was blood at the scene, pointing to the likelihood that the victim was murdered there before the assailants fled.

“The face had deep cuts, and we suspect that he was hacked using a sharp object by the culprits,” he said.

Naivasha DCIO Isaac Kiama said the body was identified using documents recovered in the clothes.

He termed the murder as beastly, saying they had established that the car at the scene was hired from Nairobi and they have reached out to the relatives.

“The victim is a freelance journalist involved in photography in Nairobi, and his throat and tongue had been cut out, and the body has been taken to the local mortuary, and investigations have started,” he said.

Kiama revealed that they were following some leads after collecting various items from the car and the scene.

Meanwhile, a man died by suicide in the sprawling Mithuri estate in Naivasha.

The body of the 45-year-old was found hanging from a tree along the Nairobi-Nakuru highway hours after complaining of harsh economic times

The local CID boss said they are yet to establish the motive behind the suicide, which was reported by relatives.

“We are concerned by the high cases of suicide mainly involving middle-aged men, and most of them are due to family disputes or financial crisis,” he said.

The body was removed to the Naivasha sub-county hospital mortuary, and an inquest file was opened.