When Mathare resident Lydia Ochieng' got into a childhood romance with her late husband, Steve, the last thing she expected was for him to turn out to be a thug.
Their flirtation began in primary school with small gestures before they began formally dating in secondary school.
"He would do good things for me like buy snacks for me when in primary school. I thought it was just friendship but when we went to secondary school that is when we started dating officially," she narrated.
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The mother of one revealed that Steve would cater for her needs and her family's needs as they were not financially stable.
She, however, was not aware that her husband was acquiring the money through illegal activities.
"I found out he was a thief when a mob descended on him at KenCom stage in Nairobi [Moi Avenue]. He called me and told me to come with a taxi," Ochieng' narrated stating that she found him hiding in an enclosed place to avoid a further beating by angry passers-by.
She was able to carry him into the taxi with the help of the driver but could not take him to hospital because they required a letter from the police to get attended to.
She opted to take him to a private physician where he was tended to and recovered. Steve promised to keep away from crime.
"I never told his family about the incident or that he had been beaten up by a mob," she stated.
Months later, Steve grabbed a phone from a local in the area and ran into her house, hiding under the bed. Police would later track him to the house and Ochieng', scared of what was happening, disclosed his whereabouts.
She begged the officer not to kill her husband, who was taken to Pangani police station. He was later released.
In a subsequent incident that proved fatal, Ochieng' heard gunshots while at home and immediately suspected that Steve had been killed as calls to his phone went unanswered.
When she went to the scene of the shooting and confirmed that her husband had been killed by the police.
Ochieng' was left to fend for her child as neighbours and family abandoned her when it came to light that she was married to a criminal.
Her story is shared by a number of women who have been engaged to criminals where they have been forced to be accomplices to the crimes like hiding weapons and trafficking drugs.
A widow of a gangster explained that her partner was killed by a mob after he was unable to run up a hill carrying a 21-inch TV.
Mob mentality which is seen as a way to mete justice on serial offenders is seen as a violation of human rights.
The law has made it a harsh reality for those likely to be excited by mob psychology to be punished severely.
In July 30, five residents of Embu county were sentenced to six years in jail for lynching a chicken thief six years ago.
