The decomposing body of a woman was retrieved on Wednesday from a 78-foot-deep septic tank in Mikanjuni village, Kilifi town.
The body was identified as that of Pendo Karisa 20, from Seahorse village in the Kilifi town suburbs.
Her mother, Santa Muhambi, said her daughter left home on Sunday after receiving a call from her boyfriend who was identified as Munga Mwangemi. He was a foreman at the site where the body was recovered. Mwangemi lives at the site. He went missing.
“He called my daughter on Sunday at around 3pm and asked her to go to his place of work. She left but never returned. I called him on Monday and asked him where she was and why she wasn’t back but he denied ever seeing her,” she said.
Muhambi said she warned him that he would be held responsible should something happen to her daughter. Kilifi North subcounty police commander Daniel Chacha said the death is under investigation and Mwangemi is being sought.
Residents who witnessed the retrieval of the body said he had been seen around the septic tank.
A guard at the site narrated how he saw Mwangemi holding a heavy metal bar and a huge sledgehammer past midnight.
“He is a senior person here but I had to ask him what he was doing at the septic tank at such odd hours. He looked confused and he told me that he didn’t want to be bothered by anyone and I left him there,” the guard said.
On Monday, workers at the site asked Mwangemi where his girlfriend was as she used to prepare tea for them.
“Everybody knows her and she always wakes up in the morning and cooks tea for them. They felt it was not normal for her not to be around, yet her sandals were on the doorstep,” she said.
A neighbour said Mwangemi ordered workers not to go to the septic tank. They became suspicious of a foul smell and reported to the site owner who notified police.
Kilifi OCS Hassan Kochalle supervised retrieval of the body. It started on Tuesday at 3pm and was halted at 9pm because of lack of oxygen circulation in the pit. It resumed Wednesday and the body was taken to the Kilifi County Hospital mortuary on Wednesday afternoon.
Karisa is survived by a four-year-old son, a brother, two sisters and her mother.
(Edited by V. Graham)