There is no way we are going to bury her without her head

A family in Miiri village in Mukurwe-ini, Nyeri county is looking for the head of their 82-year-old kin who was killed in a gruesome murder last week by unknown people in a suspected land dispute.

Relatives of Julia Gathoni said they found her body in her bedroom with her head missing from her torso sending the entire village to shock and disbelief.

On Wednesday, officers from the Directorate of Criminal Investigation (DCI) combed the home and neighbouring houses in attempts to find leads that could help them in the search for Gathoni’s killers.

They later found a blood-stained shirt and a bloody carton.

Since the murder, concerted efforts by the village residents and the family to search for the head have been futile.

The family has since been forced to adjourn the funeral arrangements until they locate the missing head of their kin.

“There is no way we are going to bury her without her head… there is no way,” said Ms Waceke Kaigi, a sister to the deceased.

“She was a joyful person with no known dispute with anyone in the village, which makes us wonder who would have killed her,” she added.

Restore calm

They are now appealing to security agencies to intensify their search so that they can lay her to rest as well as restore calm in the village.

“We have a lot of questions and we are wondering why the killers carried away her head. It is a painful ordeal and we want the security agency to fast-track the search because there is no way we are burying half a body,” said Ms Jane Ndirangu, a neighbour.

The area Member of County Assembly Cyrus Nderitu urged police officers to speed up their investigations saying the family was in distress since they cannot bury their kin.

“People are so scared that they cannot venture out at night or early in the morning due to fear of an attack. We would like to give the deceased a decent burial,” he said.

Mukurwe-ini OCPD Vincent Achoki said they are still investigating but they have not made any arrests.

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