The family of Naneu Muthoni Muturi, a young woman whose lifeless body was found at her lover’s house, want justice for their daughter. 

According to her parents, Sam and Grace Muturi, Muthoni met her death on Saturday, November 12 when she visited her boyfriend at Onyonka Estate, one last time to iron out issues. 

She promised not to stay for long but Muthoni’s mother was woken by a phone call at around 2.30am. After she picked, there was no response on the other end. The worried mother looked for her daughter for two days before resorting to visit her boyfriend’s house.

“I tried calling her phone, but no one picked up, and the next time I tried, her phone was off, this time, I drove there and found policemen at the boyfriend’s house,” she said.

The body of their daughter was lying in a pool of blood on the sofa. She had multiple stab wounds and her boyfriend was missing from the crime scene. 

By the time of going to press, the prime suspect in the murder of Naneu Muthoni Muturi, Thomas Mbugua Muthee was still at large. 

“It is wrong for the young people to harm each other over differences. If you are in a relationship that is not stable, just walk away because you can’t force a person to love you,” Muthoni’s father said.

The two had been in a relationship for one year, and according to her mother, things were not okay.

“She once came home with a bloodshot eye but when I asked her what happened, she hid the cause of the injury, and blamed it on shampoo,” she said.

40 percent of women have been exposed to abuse from the opposite sex

GBV is a silent pandemic that affects anyone regardless of their geographical location, socio-economic background, race, religion, sexuality, or gender identity. About 35 percent of women worldwide have experienced either physical and/or sexual intimate partner violence. 

In Kenya, 40 percent of women have been exposed to abuse from the opposite sex. In a lifetime, 70 percent of women will have been abused. In Kenya, nearly 1 in 10 men have experienced some form of GBV.

Despite the prevalence, GBV is largely under-reported because of stigma and lack of access to resources and support systems.