A 20-year-old lady, Cynthia Nanjala, has died after she was allegedly raped by her employer six days after she started working for him.
The victim, a Kenyan died on June 2, 2022, two weeks after she was reportedly found lying naked and brutalised in a secluded spot in the Lunga Lunga slums in Nairobi.
She’s said to have confessed to her sister that it was her employer who raped her but did not utter another word for almost two weeks before she died.
The deceased’s sister, Yvonne Mbone Muruli, in an interview with NationKenya fought back tears as she narrated her last moments with Cynthia while she was admitted at Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH).
Ms Muruli, the second-born in a family of 10 children, said she regrets coming to Nairobi with her late sister, the lastborn, after the Easter festivities.
She said came to the city to work as a house help, and their plan was to make money and use it to fund their ailing mother’s treatment.
According to her, another sister of the deceased, Esther Mbone, had informed them that she knew of someone who was looking for a domestic helper urgently and that the person had agreed to take her sister for the job.
Ms Nanjala, who dropped out of school in Class 7 due to life’s pressures, packed her bags and left for Nairobi. She stayed at Ms Muruli’s house in Kangemi for a few days before leaving for Ms Mbone’s home in Kawangware. She stayed there for a few weeks before reporting to work in Embakasi in May.
“We were more than happy. Our mother has been very sick. Her body has swollen and we have never had enough money to fund her treatment. We knew that whatever amount Nanjala would add would go a long way to help with finding her proper treatment,” Muruli said.
Muruli alleged that at the hospital, Cynthia opened up to her about the incident that led her to the hospital.
“It is my employer who raped me. He covered me up and did it! I am sure he did it. Even the other house help knows that it happened. I have not told anyone but you,” Cynthia told her sister.
Muruli said she couldn’t reported the matter to the police immediately as she was also tending to her son, who was also admitted at the same hospital.
She added that she called her sister’s employer to tell him that her sister was admitted at KNH.
“The employers said they had not seen Nanjala for a number of days. They said she left the house one day at around 7pm to take clothes from the drying line and they had seen her since,” she said.
It is then that the family suspected something was wrong. The employer had not informed Cynthia’s sisters that she was missing.
On May 20, Muruli reported the matter at the Embakasi Police Station under OB number 110/20/5/2022. She was asked to record a statement but was told that no action would be taken until Ms Nanjala got better and was able to share her account with the police.
Cynthia died on June 2 at the KNH. A post-mortem exam on her body was inconclusive, with part of the report saying samples had been taken from her spinal cord and brain for more toxicological test.
Her body is still lying at the KNH mortuary because the family has not cleared a hospital bill amounting to Sh112,000, which they say they have been unable to raise.
“Our mother is sick, so sick that she can barely stand. She keeps asking me if we can really get that money so that we can bury my sister at home, and I tell her I do not know. We are helpless. I call on willing people to help us pay that bill and bury our sister,” Muruli said
Embakasi sub-county Police Commander , who confirmed the incident told the Nation that they were waiting for a conclusive post-mortem report before taking their next step.
“Investigations on this matter are still ongoing and we hope to follow leads offered by the post-mortem report,” he said.
