A 23 Year-Old mother of two is fighting for her life in hospital after a horrific ordeal in which she was raped, slashed with a panga and tied to a railway track in Mombasa.
Ms Irene Aisha Syongula was returning home on Saturday night after attending a funeral meeting in Kibarani when two people known to her accosted and raped her in turns.
‘’After doing what they did, they told me that they wanted to finish me off so that I will not follow them up,” Syongula said amid sobs at Aga Khan Hospital on Wednesday.
The assailants then hacked her leg with a machete and tied her with ropes to a railway track.
Not long after, a cargo train from Mombasa Railway Station towards Changamwe crushed her lower limbs.
Luckily, her screams caught the attention of the locomotive driver who brought the train to a halt.
“I was trapped beneath the heavy locomotive wheels. All the time I shouted and asked God to save me as I have young children to take care of,” said the single mother.
The train operator then sought the help of area residents who rushed Ms Aisha to Coast Provincial General Hospital. She was, however, referred to Aga Khan Hospital due to the ongoing doctors’ strike.
“We are guided a policy that clearly states that we must accept all emergency cases. For Irene, she had lost lots of blood and her case was severe. Lucky for her we alerted all our relevant doctors including a surgeon who was around at the time she was wheeled into the hospital. We set out to save her life and here we are today–she is responding well to treatment,” Twahir Ahmed, Aga Khan Hospital Medical Director said.
Dr Twahir added that Irene comes from poor background and therefore should be helped to pay her medical bill which has now hit Sh1 million.
Ms Aisha’s mother, Janet Wanja on Wednesday tearfully appealed to President Uhuru Kenyatta to help foot the hospital bill.
Three Mombasa residents Emily Mbaile, Samson Mburu and Josephat Wachira have promised to help raise funds to offset the bill.
