Eyebrows raised as Kitui girl’s decomposing body is buried without autopsy
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| Gakundi Kirambya, the mother of Ann Muthoni who disappeared and was discovered dead with badly mutilated body, gestures during the interview at her home at Konyu Village, Tharaka in Mumoni District Kitui County. She wants justice for her daughter. Photo/ MWINGI TIMES |
BY MWINGI TIMES TEAM
A girl in Kitui County has been buried without a ceremony in what appeared to be a rushed attempt to frustrate the efforts to unravel the mystery surrounding her death.
Ann Muthoni, 21 was a boarding standard eight pupil at Konyu Primary School in Mumoni -Sub County, Mwingi North Constituency until her death, a week ago. The family said that Ann’s decomposing body was found in the bush and dogs had feasted on it.
The events revolving around her death were described by the family to have begun from September 17 when the school administration sent Ann and ten others home to fetch fees and pocket money. The other pupils returned later but Ann did not show up.
On September 19, she left home for school only for her badly mutilated body to be discovered four days later in the thickets merely two kilometers from their home. According to According to Ann’s mother Mrs.Gakundi Kirambya her daughter’s body had the limbs missing.
What raised questions is why the police and the local administration allowed the family to bury the body without a postmortem and why Ann was never accorded a dignified sendoff given she was wrapped in pieces of clothes and the whole process was rushed.
Independent sources within the family confirmed that Ann was previously sent away from school by the administration without much explanation. She was also stigmatized and stayed reserved. “My daughter asked me, mummy, if you stayed somewhere and people are avoiding you…when you take food they get out of the class and go to eat elsewhere and you are left alone….what would you do?” Mrs Kirambya said of her daughter. On learning that Ann was facing bullying from her peers, her mother, advised her to stay put. “I told her that someone can hate but I did not send you to school for that… Just leave them alone and concentrate on education because you have a few days before you sit for KCPE,” she said.
The headteacher Mr. Joshua Muatha described Ann as an obedient and hardworking. He also ruled out speculations that went round that Ann could have been sick prior to being allowed to go home.
However, it was evident that Ann was discriminated due to her mature age and bullied by other pupils allegedly for being an elder student. Her zeal for education was captured by Mr.Muatha thus: Ann was determined to go to secondary school because she did her KCPE in 2014 but repeated to class seven and this year she was a candidate. “Her parents sent her to boarding in order to achieve this even though they were poor and struggling to pay the school fees,” Mr Muatha said.
When Mwingi Times visited the deceased’s home at Konyu village on Saturday a somber mood was still fresh a week after she was buried. Her mother who tearfully narrated the whole ordeal broke down twice as she recounted the close bond she had with her daughter and the loss she suffered. “This is an area known for early marriages and Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) the deceased had stayed focused in her education despite the temptations to do otherwise,” said Mrs. Kirambya.
Lucy Kawira, Ann’s younger sister, spelt out that Ann was distressed owing to being victimized by the pupils and a teacher whom she said made her a laughing stock in the class. “My sister used to tell me that a certain teacher made her the topic of discussion whenever he entered the class instead of teaching.” She said, adding that her sister’s mysterious demise had left them traumatized.
The deceased’s father Mr. Kirambya Mbogo said that he regretted being away on the material day and said had he had the foresight, he would have escorted her daughter to school.
The area chief Mr Francis Muthengi said that the family had no other option but to bury the body without an autopsy being carried out due to financial challenges. “I accompanied the police to the scene and witnessed as the officers picked the decomposing body after which they handed over to the family for burial,” said Mr Muthengi who disclosed that Ann’s body was buried less than six hours after it was picked by the police.
A Mwingi based human rights lobby, Centre for Human Rights and Civic Education (CHRCE) condemned the circumstances under which the poor girl died and the manner in which the send- off was hastened drawing possibilities that there was scheme to conceal the Ann’s death. CHRCE’s Programme Officer Ms. Christine Kalikanda faulted the police for allowing the family to bury their kin before carrying out thorough probe on her strange death. “The police failed to do their part in investigating this incident as it is provided in the law. We are demanding thorough investigations into Muthoni’s death,” said Ms. Kalikanda who called on the police to exhume the body and do proper investigation in a bid to offer justice to the bereaved family.
Mumoni OCPD Mohammed Wako could not be reached for a comment since his mobile phone was switched off.
MWINGI TIMES for timely and authoritative news.
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