The murder trial of the newly crowned Miss Langata Prison 2016, Ruth Kamande, resumed on Tuesday, September 6th before Justice Jessie Lessit.
22-year-old Ms Kamande, who has been in remand for nearly a year, allegedly stabbed her boyfriend Fareed Mohammed to death on September 19, 2015 in Buruburu estate, Nairobi after she discovered love letters from his ex-lovers. She has since denied stabbing him 22 times.
The deceased’s uncle Edward Mwangi Gatonye told the court that Fareed had complained about the accused forcing him to move in with her. Justice Jessie Lessit heard that Ms Kamande, out of desperation to be close to Fareed, relocated to a house in the deceased’s neighbourhood. “Farid had told me she was forcing him to let her come stay with him” he added.
The witness further testified that he knew about Fareed and Ruth’s relationship two months before the September 19 incident and found it disturbing that she locked herself in the room and only came out to buy lunch, which she served to Farid and herself. Gatonye said that on that fateful day, he had planned to attend a party with Mohammed but could not reach him on the phone.
“I found him at home with Kamande. We used to call her Biggy. When I enquired why his phone was off, Farid told me that she had blocked it. He also told me that she was unhappy because she had found old high school letters from other women, She demanded to know why he still kept the letters” Gatonye told the judge.
The deceased’s sister, Sarah Waithera Mohammed, described the lovers’ relationship as “stormy and one-sided. According to her, Fareed and Ruth were not in a romantic relationship as her brother had told the accused that he was not ready to commit. Sarah, who admitted to having lived with Ms Kamande for eight months, further told court that she used to advise the accused not to push for a relationship with Fareed.
“She came to my workplace and introduced herself as my brother’s girlfriend. From then on, she would complain to me when they had problems but my brother denied their relationship. One time, I advised her not to force the relationship,” Waithera said.
The court further heard that the accused had wanted to go to Lebanon but Sarah convinced her out of the decision. Hearing was postponed to November 25, 2016.
Source: eDaily/The Star Kenya