A 74-year-old woman from Switzerland was on Wednesday early morning raped and strangled to death by unknown assailants at her rented home in Kenya.

Lilian Bourcart, a missionary, was living alone in the rented home in Trans Nzoia County with her 48 pet cats.

Philomena Chepkorir, 27, an employee of the deceased, said she reported to work at around 8am together with her colleague Rashid Wanjala, 18, when they found the doors to the said house open.

“We got in and tried calling our boss with no response. We looked around the house and found her body lying in the garage which acts as a store,” she said.

She also claimed that the house was ransacked and over Sh300,000 meant for rent stolen.

“I left her the house on Tuesday at around 8pm and my boss had informed me about the money to pay rent,” she added.

Police visited the scene and recorded statements from the two workers.

Mr Tum confirmed that the deceased was killed during the night by unknown individuals who gained entry into the house through the rear door by pushing it open.

“The woman’s private part was oozing blood a sign that she might have been raped before being strangled during the attack. We have sampled data at the scene to help us with investigations,” said Tum.

He further added that a suspect has been arrested and is helping the police with investigations.

The body was moved to Crystal Cottage Hospital Mortuary.