On April 12, 2023, a woman made waves in Mapenzi Estate, Tana River County, when she discovered her mother there on an early-morning visit.
While leaving class to pay her partner a surprise visit, Malindi medical student Esther Soni (not her real name) encountered the unexpected.
Soni, who claimed she was dropped off at her boyfriend’s house by a friend they have in common at 6am after traveling from Malindi, said she was startled to see her mother, who was draped in a scarf, open the door.
The few neighbors in the compound were awakened by her frantic laughing and furious scream, which allowed them to see the scene that had just begun.
Apparently, the woman asked her mother what she was doing at her boyfriend’s house while wearing a scarf before breaking down in tears, according to Saada Hassan, a neighbor.
“The mother came out and pulled her inside the house to contain the situation and locked the door from the inside. We could hear that there was some commotion with the mother trying to explain herself in low tones,” said Ms Hassan.
The two fought for a while before the boyfriend calmed the situation.
A few minutes later, Soni’s mother was seen leaving in a hush while Soni and the boyfriend remained in the house.
Two women later joined them in the house and could be heard discussing in low tones. Sources intimated that Soni was overwhelmed during the fight and collapsed momentarily giving the mother a chance to flee.
“Because the house was quiet for a moment, then the two girls joined, and shortly after Soni was up screaming and cursing again turning the house upside down and looking for her mother, she was swearing she would kill her,” said Mildred Kweche, a neighbor.
The two girls who had joined tried to calm her down as the boyfriend left the house.
Soni could be heard crying from the house, narrating how she had introduced the boyfriend to her mother last year when he went to visit her ailing father in the hospital.
“It is sad because they buried their father in the same month and they are yet to overcome the moment, then this happens,” said Ms Kweche.
The other women quickly trailed behind Soni as she walked out of the home holding her shoes in her hands.
She got on a matatu and drove out of town.
As the boyfriend is also said to have left town and his phone is still shut off, attempts to reach him for comment were unsuccessful.
Soni’s mother, a local schoolteacher, declined to comment on the situation.
