In an unprecedented turn of events, a senior prison officer was arrested after his number plate was linked to the murder of a Kenyatta University student.
Sergent Dismus Gitenge Motongwa of the Nairobi West Prison is alleged to have caused the death of Maureen Wambui Gachagua (22) when he hit her with his car in the early hours of Sunday morning near NextGen mall on Mombasa Road.
The officer who is the main suspect is said to have been drunk and not only did he hit the girl, he drove on with her body on the roof of his car and later dumped the body at South C.
Speaking to the media, Maureen's boyfriend Dennis Mburu Baragu stated that they were crossing the road when the officer ran over the university student.
[caption caption="Maureen Wambui Gachagua, Courtesy"]
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"We exited the mall at around 4 am Sunday. I managed to cross a trench outside the mall to join Mombasa Road but my girlfriend decided to use the main path to join the road.
“I waited for her so that we could cross the road together but just after she stepped on the tarmac, I saw her cross and I decided to follow her because the road was clear. Before she made it to the other side and before I could make any step myself, I saw a red car at very high speed hit her,” he narrated.
Shocked he saw her body land on the roof of the car and tried to chase the car, "the driver did not swerve or even stop."
In vain he searched hoping her body had dropped in one of the ditches so that he could take her to hospital. He eventually decided to search for her in hospitals and it was at Mariakani that he got a lead that helped him find her.
He found the body which had been dumped near Car Max dealers in South C. Police officers had already arrived at the scene.
Next to her body was a number plater which later went missing from the scene. According to eyewitnesses, there was an elaborate attempt to remove evidence from the scene.
“The police asked him to wait but he kept disrupting them. Then as he was speaking to the police, he asked a boda-boda rider he had come with to pick the number plate and then they left,” the rider, Peter Koigi stated.
Investigating officers stated that after dumping the body, Sergeant Motongwa unscrewed the hind number plate and switched cars.
“He then drove to the Lang'ata Police Station and reported that he had hit a cow along Mombasa Road. The officer's took his statement and asked him to go with them to the accident scene.
“While there, the officers told him that the area was under Industrial Area Police Station’s jurisdiction and directed him to report there,” the officer told journalists.
An alarm was raised when the number plate recorded at the police station was the same one noted by police officers at the scene where Maureen's body was found.
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