KENYA: Why Married My Mother-in-law

A middle-aged man is currently in police custody for allegedly killing a woman whom he called his wife and lived with for five years.

Julius Mutinda Mwange , 38, is suspected to have killed Rose Mutinda in Ruaraka on January 10 after a domestic fight.

Relatives of the deceased say that Rose was in fact Mutinda’s mother-in-law.

Mutinda allegedly settled down with the deceased after parting ways with Fridah Nzilani, who is the alleged daughter of Rose and mother of Mutinda’s five-year-old daughter.

The relationship between the Rose and Mutinda raised eyebrows among neighbours, friends and relatives, given that the former seemed to be much older than Mutinda.

According to Elijah Ndemwa, one of Mutinda’s neighbours and a senior elder in the area, “Mutinda moving in with his mother-in-law was shocking.” He added that, “I have never witnessed something so outrageous, which is considered a taboo in African culture.”

House locked from inside

On the fateful day at around 11am, Ndemwa claims that he was approached by neighbours who reported a commotion coming from Mutinda’s house.

“When I arrived at the scene, the house was locked from inside but I managed to convince Mutinda to open it,” says Ndemwa who also claims that Mutinda’s shirt was bloodstained. “The deceased was lying in the bed in the next room covered in blood. A crowd was already forming outside the house,” Ndemwa adds.

Cops from Ruaraka Police Station arrived in time and took Mutinda into custody, while Rose’s body was transferred to City Mortuary to await postmortem.

Visible stab wounds

Investigators revealed that Rose had visible stab wounds at the back of her knee and thigh. A neighbour (name withheld) who knew the family claims trouble started months after Mutinda’s wife delivered around 2010, during which the mother (the deceased) visited to help with taking care of the baby.

“I knew Mutinda while working at the nearby tyre company and his wife (the deceased’s daughter) was working at a company based near Jomo Kenyatta International Airport.

The neighbour claimed that months after giving birth, Mutinda’s wife would leave the child with her mum until late in the night.

Snatched daughter’s husband

Another witness claims that, “Everyone in the neighbourhood knew how the deceased snatched her daughter’s husband and adopted her child.”

Area Chief Eric Momanyi said he had handled cases of domestic violence between the two until he received news that Rose had died, allegedly killed by her lover.

Mutinda who briefly said to the police , “Rose was initially my neighbour and when we became intimate, we decided to move in together and live as a couple. The truth will come out in the long run.”

Police handling the case have requested the court to give them eight working days to complete investigations before arraigning Mutinda to take plea in court.

Through a miscellaneous application dated January 12, 2016, an investigating officer attached to Ruaraka Police Station said he needed more time to compile all reports, including Mutinda’s sanity test and postmortem results among others.