A university student linked to the murder of a fellow student at the Multimedia University (MMU) surrendered to authorities days after being on the run.
Police said the suspect, a first-year Electrical Engineering student, is also a student at the MMU.
Nairobi Police Commander George Sedah said he surrendered at
the Sultan Hamud police station in Makueni on Thursday night after being linked to the murder of Sylvia Kemunto, who was a first-year Mass Communications and
Computer Science major.
The suspect had been on the run since last Monday
when he is believed to have killed and dumped Kemunto’s body in a water tank at the
college hours after he killed her.
Sedah said a team from Nairobi had traveled to
Sultan Hamud police station to pick up the suspect for grilling.
“It is unfortunate that a bright girl was
killed. We believe he is a prime suspect in the murder, and a team has gone to
pick him up,” he said.
It is believed he escaped to his rural home
after the murder.
He said they want to understand if he had acted
alone and what his motivation was.
The search for Kemunto started on Sunday, March 30, when her mother, Triza Kwamboka, who lives in Kawangware, Nairobi, failed to reach her.
She said she had sent her upkeep money through a church elder's
phone, but her calls went unanswered when she tried to confirm whether her daughter had received the funds.
Becoming concerned, Kemunto's mother traveled to the university, only to
discover that her daughter was missing.
The college management confirmed her absence, prompting the mother
to file a report at Langata Police Station.
The mother told police Kemunto had complained about a fellow
student who was making advances to her but she was resistant.
“She said she did not like him, and I told her to stand firm,” said
Kwamboka.
Police investigations show the student may have been killed in her
room and the body later dragged to the rooftop of the hostel where the water
tanks are and dumped there.
The killers then tied the tank with a wire and placed a stone
there, ostensibly to deter any detection.
On the day Kemunto went missing, her roommate said she went to church and left
her alone in the room.
That day, the said boyfriend visited her in the room at about
lunch hour.
Witnesses told police they later saw the man drag a suitcase
belonging to the deceased student from her room to his room in a different
block.
It is suspected the suitcase contained the woman’s body.
Later that night, the man’s roommate reportedly noticed the suitcase in their
room, but it was missing the following morning.
The witness said he saw the suspect lie on the suitcase but did
not understand what the motivation was.
“The next morning, I woke up around 8 and noticed that both the
guy and the suitcase were gone,” the witness said.
The report of the missing student prompted police investigations,
which traced her phone signal within the university compound.
It was switched off but showed it was still within the compound
near Ongata Rongai.
This prompted the school management to initiate a search on
campus.
On Wednesday, a foul smell emanating from Block E caught the attention of the
search team.
By afternoon, the source of the odor was identified and traced to a water tank on the rooftop of one of the hostels.
Kemunto’s decomposing body was discovered therein before it was moved to the
mortuary, police said.
An autopsy was planned on the body to tell how she died.
MMU acting Vice Chancellor Prof. Geoffrey Kihara said the police are investigating the murder.
“It is clear that on that day Sunday when the girl was reported missing, the
boy entered her room,” he said.
The incident adds to the rising number of murders targeting women amid efforts to address the trend.
