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| Rights defender Caroline Mwatha. Her body was found at City Mortuary on February 12, 2019. PHOTO | COURTESY |
Detectives investigating the controversial death of Dandora-based human rights activist Caroline Mwatha have released details of her last moments before she died.
Text messages obtained from Mwatha’s mobile phone by detectives at the Directorate of Criminal Investigations reveal her last conversations with Mr Alexander Gikonya, with whom police say she had an extramarital affair.
SMS
The series of SMSs, written in a mixture of Kiswahili and English, paint a picture of a helpless and distressed woman who was in agony and one who feared for her life moments after she procured the abortion.
On Thursday, a postmortem by independent pathologist Peter Ndegwa revealed that Mwatha died of excessive bleeding from a ruptured uterus after a botched abortion.
Most of the exchanges seen by the Nation between Mwatha and her lover took place on Wednesday, the same day she was reported missing.
As the storm was brewing outside about her mysterious disappearance, attendants at the Dandora clinic were struggling to save her life after the abortion turned catastrophic.
“Nimetibiwa kiasi. The rest narudi saa nane wakamalize kuniosha. Naskia tu baridi kwa wingi. Kutoka juzi naumwa sijakula anything. But nahope by 4-5 kila kitu itakuwa sawa. Anyway, juz continue praying dat all goes well thanx (I have been treated but I will go back [to the clinic] to be cleaned. I’m feeling extreme cold. I haven’t eaten anything. But I hope to be okay by 4pm or 5pm. Anyway, just keep praying that all goes well. Thank you.),” Mwatha wrote to Gikonya.
She later added: “Ndio nataka kurudi hossy tena…Nimechoka uchungu kiasi (I want to go back to the clinic. I am tired and in pain.)”
She also kept reassuring him that all would be well, and even said she loved him.
Already, eight people are being held by the police as investigations into the death continue.
On Thursday, two more suspects linked to the death were locked up by a Nairobi court on police request.
Mr Martin Mwangi and Mr Godfrey Otieno were arrested on Wednesday at Dandora and detained at Buruburu Police Station.
Makadara court allowed police to detain them for further 13 days in stations within Buruburu Police Division.
Other suspects in custody are Mr Gikonya, Mr Michael Onchiri, Betty Akinyi, Ms Richard Ramoya Abudo, Ms Georgia Achieng Tabitha and Mr Stephen Maina