KENYA – A police officer who is in custody for chopping off a lawyer’s hand during a scuffle at Wote Town in Makueni County two weeks ago will now face a murder charge, Makueni County Police Commander Mr Joseph Ole Napeiyan has said.
Constable Nancy Njeri of Makueni Police Station attacked the lawyer using a panga when she visited his rented house.
The lawyer, Mr Onesmus Masaku, died on Sunday while undergoing treatment at the Kenyatta National Hospital in Nairobi.
Mr Napeiyan said Monday he had initiated the process of dismissing the police constable from service at Makueni Police Station ahead of her arraignment.
“Investigation into this matter is complete. We shall upgrade the charge from grievous harm to murder charge when she will be arraigned in court. I have sanctioned her immediate suspension that will see her lose her salary and everything else,” Mr Napeiyan said.
The two are believed to have been estranged lovers so investigators will be seeking to establish if the police officer was on a revenge mission.
Ms Njeri is detained at the Makueni Police Station. She was expected to be arraigned in Machakos law courts on Monday but the date was pushed to Friday.
“We have agreed that she will be arraigned on Friday to allow the completion of a mental assessment on the suspect. We shall pursue the case to ensure that justice is served,” the chairman of the South-Eastern branch of the Law Society of Kenya, Mr Mutisya Mutia, told Nation.
The lawyer lost an arm and bled profusely during the incident.
A police report says Ms Njeri claimed the lawyer invited her to his house to introduce his new girlfriend but made sexual advances instead. She said she turned him town but that he insisted.
“The lawyer grabbed her and started forcing her to his bedroom. This prompted the officer to grab a panga and cut him in both hands before managing to escape,” Makueni Sub-county Police Commander Timothy Maina said in the report.
