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When she could no longer persevere the persistent abuse by her husband, Winnie Wambua, 24, knew the only way to save herself was to walk out of her marriage.
Ms Wambua, a mother of one, had endured violence for quite some time, but she could no longer hold it when the mistreatment continued.
“I had seen on TV what women have undergone by staying in abusive marriages and I knew the only solution was for me to leave. But that did not work,” said Ms Wambua who was writhing in pain.
At the far corner of Ward Seven of the Coast General Hospital lies Ms Wambua. She has been nursing serious burn wounds.
BURNS
Ms Wambua suffered first and second degree burns after her former husband, Henry Mgondah, a Tanzanian national, scalded her with a mixture of hot oil and water.
On December 13, Mgondah visited Ms Wambua at her salon in Kiembeni, Mombasa and did the cruel act.
Ms Wambua left Mgondah early 2018 and moved on with her life and even got engaged to another man.
But three months ago, Mgondah came up and started asking her to go back to him, a request that Ms Wambua repeatedly turned down.
“On that fateful day, he showed up at my salon. I was attending to a close friend when he came up and started saying how he wanted me back. I even asked my friend to ask him to leave,” narrates Ms Wambua.
“The man left, promising make me feel the same pain that he is undergoing.”
HOT MIXTURE
Ms Wambua and her friend ignored him as he left, only for him to return 30 minutes later armed with a jug which had the hot mixture of oil and water.
“I called out my friend telling her that Henry was out to do something bad. But in a flash of a moment I was down screaming in pain. He splashed the hot mixture on my face and chest,” said Ms Wambua from her hospital bed.
The man then escaped on a motorcycle which he had parked near the salon.
Residents who had responded to the screams later found a new stove, a bottle of oil and water in small bush behind the Ms Wambua’s salon.
“That is what he used to prepare the mixture that burnt me. I am now suffering with these wounds,” said Ms Wambua.
She said the incident had put her life into a standstill as she could no longer run her business which gives her income to look after herself and her child.
STILL AT LARGE
“He also robbed me my beauty. I am no longer beautiful. He is happy wherever he is and nothing has happened to him,” she added.
For two weeks now, police are yet to arrest the suspect.
Reports indicated that he was within Horohoro border in Tanzania following a trace of his phone signal.
The matter was reported at Kiembeni Police Station under OB number 33/13/12/2019.
Kisauni Sub-County Police Commander Julius Kiragu said police have been tracking the suspect since the matter was reported.
“We are now trying to see if we can liaise with our Tanzanian counterparts so that we can arrest him. The search is still on,” said Mr Kiragu.
Even as police claim to continue looking for Mgondah, the Nation has established that the man has allegedly been making comments on Facebook where posts had been shared.
A Facebook user by the name Henry Chamungwana commented on one of the posts saying “It’s all fake”, according to a screen shot shared by Ms Wambua’s relatives.