Students who witnessed the murder of their colleague at Mount Kenya University have been placed under a guidance and counselling programme.
In a statement Wednesday, the Principal in charge of School Affairs, Peter Waweru, said the affected students would be closely monitored to help them cope with the traumatic incident.
He said the students have also been accomodated in the institution as they undergo counselling.
“All the affected students including those that witnessed the grotesque incident, have all been taken under guidance and counseling,” Waweru said.
Adding: “Some of the affected students were residing outside of the main campus when the incident happened and thus the University has accorded them accommodation in the University hostel for free and for an unlimited amount of time just to closely monitor and ensure all their counseling needs are being met and observed closely.”
During the Monday night incident, an unidentified man killed Celestine Muthengei, a Second-Year student pursuing a Bachelor’s Degree in Community Development.
Celestine was in a room with all her four roommates at a commercial hostel near the Thika-based university.
The man who had a cap and a mask on arrived at the hostel at around 8 pm and asked to see Celestine.
“We allowed him in after he asked to see Celestine,” said one of the roommates who thought the man was Celestine’s classmate.
“The man looked polite, sounded polite. No one would suspect he was up to no good. We even thought he’d come to look for [study] notes.”
According to reports, Celestine did not immediately recognise the man, given he was in a mask and his cap had covered a part of his face.
Media reports indicate that she told him: ‘I’ve heard you you’re looking for Celestine; I am the one’.
Reportedly, the man responded: “Ulidhani sitakupata. Unani-cheat (You thought I won’t find you. You’ve been cheating on me).”
“He, thereafter, whipped out a kitchen knife from his coat pocket and stabbed her multiple times in the chest, back, head and arms,” an unnamed source told the media.
The attacker is also said to have locked the door from the inside, leaving Celestine’s roommates terrified.
“We feared he’d turn on us. Our distress screams did not stop him from harming Celestine,” said the student.
The suspect then fled the scene leaving the victim in a pool of blood. The roommates said the man did not look like the deceased’s boyfriend.
“We had never seen him. We still don’t know who he is,” she said.
Celestine Muthengei, 19, succumbed to her injuries shortly after admission to Thika Level Five Hospital.
