University student brutally murdered after visiting hair salon

Ann Kambura, a Kiriri University first-year student from Kabuboni in Tharaka Nithi County, was rap*d and strangled near her parents’ home.

A family in Kabuboni village, Tharaka Nithi County, is demanding justice for the horrible murder of their 21-year-old first-year student.

Ann Kambura’s body was discovered in a well with her hands tied behind her back and her blouse and bra securely wrapped around her neck, implying she had been strangled.

Ann, a Kiriri University student, left home at 2.30pm on Friday 12th of this month to go to a beauty parlor in the neighborhood to have her hair braided in preparation for school the next day in Nairobi, but she never returned.

Her father, James Mwiti, and mother, Frida Gaceri, told Nation.Africa that they contacted her at 7 p.m. to see if she had been cared to because it was becoming late, but she did not pick up.

The parents kept calling, but she never answered. After a few hours, the phone went dead, and they assumed their daughter had decided to stay the night at the hairdresser’s house after dark.

They called her the next day, but her phone was still turned off. They went to the hair salon since they felt something was amiss.

Ann arrived at 3pm and left around 6.30pm after she finished braiding her hair, according to the hairdresser.

The concerned parents sought out the boda rider who had taken her to the salon, and he confirmed that Ann had arrived, but she had not contacted him to take her home.

They contacted Ann’s university friends in Nairobi to see whether she had returned, but they were told that her leased room was closed.

“That Friday, I spent the day following up on a loan I had applied to pay her fees, only for her to be killed the same day,” said Gaceri.

The parents reported the matter to the area chief and announcements were made in area churches, as a search started for her.

On Wednesday, a friend of the family, Jeremy Thirika, advised them to also report the matter to Chuka Police Station, but when they went there, they were advised to go make the report at a police post near their home.

While they were recording a statement at the police post, a police officer called the station to say that a body had been found in a well in the village.

Gaceri said that from the description of the size of the victim and clothing she wore, she was sure it was her daughter, a mother of one.

Together with the police, they rushed to the scene and, after recovering the body, the family confirmed that it was Ann.

The body was taken to the Chuka County Referral Hospital mortuary while the police began investigations into the case.

“My daughter was brutally murdered because the well was thoroughly covered and her hands and head were tied with her torn blouse and her brassiere tied tightly around her neck,” said the emotional father.

Mwiti said the post-mortem report showed his first-born had been raped before she was killed and he vowed that he would not bury her until the perpetrators were arrested and taken to court on murder charges.