Police in Juja have launched investigations into the death of a university student who was stabbed as his girlfriend watched.

The deceased namely Joel Juma was a fourth-year student at the Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT).

The Directorate of Criminal investigations (DCI) said in a statement the 23-year-old had been revising for his examinations and told his girlfriend to accompany him to one of his classmate’s residence to pick a revision material.

“Juma woke up and embarked on his books but at 2am, he asked her to escort him to where a classmate lived a few blocks away, to get some reference material that he needed before morning,” a tweet by the DCI reads in part.

Detectives say the two were attacked near hotel Lilies by three thugs who demanded money and mobile phones.

“Two of them descended on Juma with blows and kicks before stabbing him twice on the left side of his chest, leaving him lying on the ground in a pool of blood. The third assailant manhandled the lady who hadn’t carried any valuable and luckily, left her unscathed,” the detectives said.

The commotion attracted local guards who helped Juma’s girlfriend take him to a local dispensary where he was pronounced dead on arrival.

The investigators suspect the perpetrators were members of a notorious gang, which escaped the ongoing operation to rid Kayole and Dandora of criminals and who have found a safe haven in Gachororo.

Juma’s body has been moved to the morgue awaiting autopsy.