Police in Kitui are investigating a pastor and his family over the alleged sexual assault and murder of a Form Three student.
Authorities arrested the pastor, his wife, and three children after they found the body of Ms. Alice Mulewa Anne, a learner at Mikongooni Mixed Day Secondary School in Kanziko, Kitui South, dumped on a village footpath near the family’s home.
Homicide detectives suspect that the pastor’s wife, along with their two sons and daughter, assisted the preacher in disposing of the body using the family motorcycle after the killing.
Preliminary investigations indicate that the girl left school last Wednesday and visited a nearby trading center to have her hair cut at a barbershop owned by the pastor.
The girl’s mother,Anne Mutinda, told police that her daughter was being attended to by one of the pastor’s sons, also her schoolmate. She left the market around 6:30 pm but never reached her home, which is barely two kilometers away.
“I got worried when she did not turn up and went out to look for her because it was unusual for her to be out late at night, but the search turned up nothing,” said the mother as quoted by Nation.Africa.
At the market, the mother learned that the teen girl had left before sundown, taking an isolated village footpath that cuts through the pastor’s farm as a shortcut to her home.
The following morning, the mother received a call from neighbors who had discovered her daughter’s lifeless body between her residence and the pastor’s farm.
Evidence of Struggle with Assailants
The girl’s body had bite marks on her face and hands, indicating a struggle with her assailants.
Blood was also oozing from her private parts, suggesting she’d been raped. A deep wound on the back of her head, supposedly inflicted by a blunt object, was also evident.
Additionally, the deceased bore burns on the elbows of her hands, suggesting that she might have been transported to the scene on a motorcycle after her demise, with her free hands coming into contact with the exhaust pipe.
Detectives suspect that the student was abducted on her way home from school and taken to the pastor’s house, where she was defiled and killed. The victim and her family were members of the church led by the pastor.
Subsequent investigations brought to light conflicting narratives among the family members, as the children provided accounts to the police that differed from those of their parents, resulting in their arrest.
The pastor denied that the student had her hair cut at his barbershop, despite being present on the premises, whereas his son confirmed to the police that he had indeed attended to the girl in his father’s presence.
Raising additional suspicion, the pastor asked the family to accept the grim reality and offered assistance in raising funds for a funeral befitting a queen.
The police recovered a motorcycle with bloodstains among several pieces of evidence, and samples were taken to the government chemist for DNA analysis.
Ikutha Sub-County Police Commander Paul Omolo said investigators had secured a court warrant to detain the pastor’s family, allowing them to conclude investigations before determining whom to charge in court.
The police boss mentioned that the motive for the murder is yet to be established but assured that no stone would be left unturned in the investigation.
